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Class 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



TTISTOlirCAI. SKETCHES. 



o'i^c 



^ kshingtoa/,^, 



HEAD- QUARTERS, 



NEWBURGH, N. Y., 



AND ADJACT^Nl^ EOCAEITIES, 



BY Jc J. MONELL. ,: - 



• \VLiat 's hallowed ground y "T is what gives birth 
To sacred thoughts in souls of worth 1 — 
Peace ! IndtiDenclence ! Truth ! go forth 

Earth's compass round, 
Aud your high priesthood shall make earth 
All hallowed ground." 



oJ«<c 



NEWBUKGH, N. Y. : 
E. M. KiTTENBER, 101 \¥aTKR-St. 

1872 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, 

BY E. M. RIITTENBER, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress. 






Q 



ntrobuftori). 



Thk iiHiuiry, on the part of many visitors at the Head- 
QUAKTKKS OF W AsiiiNcTox AT NEWRrRcMi, for infoniiat iou (.-oll- 
cerniii.u" its history, has li'cl to the ])iil)lication, in the form 
licrcwitli oiVcicd, of a scries of artich'S, prcpanxl i'or the hical 
s, l>y a ^oith'iiiaii of ackno\vh'd_t;cd ability ami ]iatriotic 
ilscs. 'fho scries emliraccs not only an outline history 
; ic Hca(l-(]iiartei's buil(lin,u', hut also of localities in its 
,ity: the llca(l-(|iiartcrs of (icnerals Lafayette, Knox, 
r.EX, and othei's ; tlic ('ami- (>'i;orN'ii, the Temim.e, West 
■', etc., and se\-eral historical sketches, 
e work is not ]ircscnte(l a.s an exhaustive history, Imt as 
pitome (if the statements of more clahorate volumes, 
urpose is to cultivate, throii.i;-h sketches by the Avayside, 
tile memory oi the struL;\i!,'le for National inde])endence, and to 
invest with more ii;-enera! and permanent interest localities 
prominently associated v\itli that heroic period. No castle 
walls iKir lofty battlements, beariji.i;" on their entablatures 
records of violence ;io-aiiist the rii^'lilsof man, link these local- 
iti<'S with past ag'cs ; but. in iheir stead, the humble structure 
i)i which Lip.KKTV was cradled, the mountain jx-aks whereon 
blazed the walch-lires of the t^'iuirdiaiis of her iiifa.ncy, the 
|iasses of lier 'J'hei'niopyla' ; the sc<'nes of strutagems, of trea- 
son, ot" triumph, which ,t;'ave to the world a New Ei'a, liearing" 
the inscriptioji : "All men are created iVee and e(pial." 

Several of the illustrations are, by i)eruiission, from Los- 



iv INTRODUCTORY. 

sing's "Field-Book of the Revolution," published l\y the 
Messrs. Harper, and Irvixg's "Lite of" Wushington," {)nhlish- 
ed by the Messrs. Putnam, — works of the highest standard. 
Others have been specially prepared, or selected from local 
histories at the publisher's command. For the current state- 
ments of liistory no special acknowledgment is necessary. 
Hitherto unpublished facts are on authorities quoted. 

With this explanation of the design of the work and the 
mode of its preparation, it is submitted to the i)ul)lic, in the 
hope that the sul)jects i)resentc(l will receive that apprecia- 
tion of which they are worthy, and awaken an increased 
interest in our local history. 

THE PUBLISHEK. 

Newburgh, N. Y., 1»72. 




^asMngton's peatr-qnurfcrs. 



ripHE luiildiiii;' iiuw sd ^-cucrallv kiidwii as Washimjtox's 
J._ ]lKArt-(;rAKTF.RS AT N KWBUKCH, is sil ua t (m1 ill the smitli-cast 
|tart ftf tlic city. It is ciiiistriictccl (if roiiii'li stmir; is diic 
stmy lii.i^ii, ainl tit'tv-six I'cct iVmit 1i_v Inrty-six iVct in dcptli. 
Tlir sitiitli-cast corner, inure |)aiticnlarly slio\\'n l)y the walls 
and tinibers of the roof in the atti<', was |)i'ol)al»!y built hy 
IIf:RMAX ScnoXKjrAN, a natixc of the Palatinate of GeniKDiy, 
to Avhoni the lot or farm on which it was ori^'iinilly situated 
was patented (1711), and who sold to Alexander Colden and 
Burger ^fEYxnERS. The latter conveyed to Joxathax Has- 
MRorcK, in IToo, who erected the north-east corner in n<)0. 
The west half of tlir- house was ad(h'd liy Hasbrocck in HTO. 
and one roof thrown over the whole. The date of the lirst 
and of the last addition are cut upon stones in the walls. 

.InxATiiAX llAsiiKorcK. iVoiii whoui the building- takes the 
name of "The ITashrotck lIorsE," was the <j,-rand-son of 
Abraham HASF^nnicK, one of the Tiu^-uenot founders of New 
Paltz. He was cohmel of the militia of the district, was in 
freipieiit service in j;Muirdin,n' the passes of the Higddands, 
and was in command oi' his re^'iment at the taking- of Forts 
Montgomery and (Minton l)y the English in 1*177. He died 
in 17S0, liefore Wasuixctox occu]iied the house. 

Tiie lirst towji-meeting for the Precinct of Xewl>urgli was 
held here on th(> first Tuesday of .\]iril, l7tK^, when its owner 
was elected Supervisor. Public meetings continue(| to be 
held here for several years.' During- the early period of the 
Revolution, the Committee of Safety of the Precinct assem- 
bled hei'c; here military companies wei'c org'anized, and here 
Lafayette, Knox, Steubex, Clixton, (Jreene, Gates, Hamilton, 



6 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

unci Waynr, were in daily coinniunication witli their Com- 
mander-in-cliiet", and liere tiie latter wrote his cirenlar letter, 
addressed to the Governors of all the States, on disbanding 
the anny — his last communication with those functionaries. 

From this brief outline, it will Ix; seen that the building is 
singularly associated with the history of the Old as well as 
of the New World : with the former, through its founder, 
recalling the religious wars which devasted the Palatinate 
and sent its inhabitants, fugitive and ]ienniless, to other jiarts 
of Europe and America ; tlirough his successor, witli the 
Huguenots of France — a baptism which especially fitted it 
for association with the struggle for Libkrty, and gave 
to its occupation by Washixotox a peculiar fitness. It is 
the latter, how(>ver, that this skett;h is particularly designed 
to commemorate. 

In the spring of 1182, Washingtox made this building, then 
in the occupation of Mrs. Hasbrouck and her family, his 
Head-quarters, and remained here until August 18th, 1788, 
on the morning of which day he took his departure fi-om 
Newburgh, after })assiiig along the lines of his army, di'awn 
up around his IIead-(piarters, and there parting with many 
of his subalterns and soldiers forever. At this ])hu-e he had 
|)assed through the most trying period of the lu'volution : 
the year of iiuictivity on the part of Congress, of distress 
throughout the country, and of complaint and disccuitent in 
tlu' ai'iny, the latter at one time l)or(lering on revolt among 
officers and soldiers. 

It was on the 22(1 day of May, 1182, at this place, that 
Colonel NiCdi.A, on liclialf of himself and others, proposed 
that Washixgtox should become King, for the ''natiiuial ad- 
vantage," a proposal that was received by Washington with 
"surprise and astonishment," " viewed Avith abhorrence," and 
" reprehended with severity." Thus he triumphed over the 
most powerful of temptations, won the noblest victory of 
his life, and crowned his memory with immortal honor. 

Colonel Nicola only expressed the riKsing feeling of the 



WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTEBS t 

aviiiy, which took a more alanniiii;' I'onii during' the following" 
winter and sjo-ing. On the lOth of March, 1783, an address 
to the army, with an anonymous inanuscrii)t notice for a 
pidilic ineeting of ollicers on the following Tnesday, was 
issued. In the address, all were called upon "to suspect the 
man who would advise to more moderation and longer for- 
bearance.'' \V.\shi\(;to\ was equal to the emergency. He 
ex])resse(l his disapprol)ation of the whole proceeding, Imt 
with great wisdom, re(jiieste(l the \u']d officers, with one 
commissioned ofticei' from each company, to meet on the fol- 
lowing Sat iirday. lie altendeil this meeting and deli\ei'ed 
<ine of the most touching and effective addresses on record. 
When he closecl his remarks, the otlicers unanimously re- 
soh'ed, ''to reject with disdain" the infamous pro])osition 
containe(l in the anonymous address. W'Asuixcro.N after- 
wards, when speaking of the result, said : " Had this day 
heen wanting, the world had never known the height to 
which human greatness is capahle of attaining." 

The meeting of officers was ludd at the New Building, or 
"Tem|)le" as it was called, in New Windsor, which will he 
noticed moi-e at length hereafter ; hut \V.\shix«ton's address 
was written at his iread-ijuarters. The " Newburgh Letters," 
^to which it was a reply, were written by Major Johx Ahm- 
STK()N(;, Aid-de-canip to (ileneral (tatks. At the time, they wei-e 
looked upon as intended to excite I'evolt, lull att^'iwards 
WAsni\(;T(>x liecame satished that the object of the author 
was to awaken Congress and the States to a sense of justice 
towards the suffering- army. 

Notice of the cessation of hostilities was proclaimed to 
the ariuy, .\pi-il littli, 17!S8. It was received with gi-eat re- 
joicings, and was consi(hTed as the harbinger of peace. On 
that evening, signal lieacon lights jtrocdainied the joyous 
news to the surnuinding conntiy. Thii"teen cannon came 
pealing up from Fort I'utnam, which were followed by a 
feu-de-joir rolling along the lines. "The mountain sides re- 
soundfHl and echoed like tremendous p(^uls of thunder, and 



8 WASHINGTON S HEAD- QUARTERS. 

the flashing from thousands of five arms, in the darkness of 
the evening', was like unto vivid flaslies of lightning from 
the clouds." From this time furloughs were freely granted 
to soldiers who wished t(j return t<> their homes, and when 
the army was linally disbanded those al)sent wei'o discharged 
from service without being reciuired tn return and re[)ort them- 
selves. This was done as a matter of |)recauti(iii t(i prevent 
increased siitfering on acc(»niit ol' their great destitution and 
tlie dislauee which many wouM \h- eoiiii^eHed to travel. 

Ou the morning of November 8d, 1783, the army was dis- 
banded on the lawn in front of the Old H<msc. At that time 
there was but a single street or road, that now ou tlie west, 
and the slo})ing lawn and bluif stretched on the liorth and 
south, dotted with the huts and tents of tlie soldiers and the 
jjife (iuard, whih/ where ai'e uow s|)ires and dwelliugs aud 
tlie hum ol' industry, ])rinH'val forests bared tlu'ir leatless 
arms to the wintry winds. It will not l»e presumed that the 
entire army was asscMubled here, Imt only tliat portion en- 
camped in the vicinity or iu barracks at the banding near 
what is now the foot of 'I'Inrd street, ami wiio had here their 
sexcral parade grounds, on whieh — that at llead-(pn\rlers 
being iu the front — on that day, for the last time, 

'In their llAliliED REUIMENTALH 

St<)()D the old Continentals." 

The protdamation of Congress and the farew(dl Oi'ders of 
\V.\sniX(;T(iN were read at the head ol' ea(di regiment, aud the 
last word of command given. " J*ainl'id," says Thatchkr, wIio 
was present, " was the parting ; no description can be; ade- 
(|uate to tiie tragic exhibition, lioth officers and soldiers, 
long unaccustomed to the affairs of pri\ate life, were tiiriu'd 
loos(> u])on the world. Ne\-er can liie day be forgotlcii when 
I'l'iends, eompanions for seven years in joy aud sorrow, were 
torn asunder, without the hope of ever UK'eliiig again, and 
with the prospect of a miseralde subsistence iu the iului-e." 
Major Noiau. aiu)ther participant, says : "'fhe iunuites of the 
same tent, or hut, for seven long years, grasped each others 






'PPi ' iil 




WASHINGTON'S HEAD- QUARTERS. 9 

hands in silent agony. To go, they knew not wliither ; all 
recollection of the art to thrive by civil occupation lost, or 
to the youthful never known. Their hard-earned military 
knowledge worse than useh'ss ; and with their badge of 
brotherhood, a mark at which to point the linger of sus[)icion 
— ignoble, vile suspicion ! — to be cast out on a world long- 
since liy them forgotten. Severed from friends, and all the 
joys and griefs which s(ddiers feel ! Griefs, while hope re- 
mained — when shared by numbers, almost joys ! To go in 
silence and alone, and pnor and hopeless ; it was too hard ! 
On that sad day how many hearts were wrung ! I saw it 
all, nor will the scene be ever blurred or l)lotted from my 
view." How tragic must have been the scenes of separation, 
when the scanty record of them is so touching ; how great 
the desolution of a country that had for these heroes no wel- 
coming homes, no hope in the future. 

After the disbandment of the army, the Hasbrouck family 
rcsumrd jjossession of th<' house and remained there until 
184i», when the title of tiie property became vested in the 
people of tile Stat<' of New York, under the foreclosure of a 
mortgage given to the commissioiiei's to loan certain mon(>ys 
of the United States. For many years it was called "the 
f)ld Hasbrouck house," but the memory of \V.ASHiX(;T(tN', and 
ol' the events which clustered around it (buing his i-esidence 
here, e\'er brightening as time advanced, caused this name 
gradually to fade away before the undying one by which it 
is now known. 

By an ac-t of the Legislature, passed April 10, 1850, the 
proy)erty was placed in the care of the Board of Trustees of 
the tii<'ii A'illage of Xewbnrgh, to be preserved as nearly as 
possible as it was at the time of its occupation by Washixc- 
Tox, and to erect a Hag-staff from which should be unfolded 
the I'nitecl States tlag n])on which should be inscrilied: 
" Lihcrtij and Union, now and J'oirri'r, one and inseparable.'''' 

The inti'fior of the building had been modernized in some 
respects, bnt the Ti'ustees of Newburgh, true to their trust, 



10 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

appointed a committoe, of" wliich the late Enoch Cart?:r was 
chairiuan, and by them evcn-y ]iart of tlie l)iiiklin.i>- was care- 
fully restored to the condition it was in at tlu^ time of its 
occupation t>y Washington. This l)('in<>- done, and the flag'- 
staif erected, on the 4th of July, 1850, the place was fdniiiiUy 
dedicated, with ap|)ropriate ceremonies, on the ,<^"reen in front 
of tlie hnihlino'. Tliere was a ci^ic and military ijroccssion 
and a lar<i,'c concourse of |)(M)])]e fi'om tlic surrounding,' coiui- 
try. A fervent prayer was oftercMl l)y the late Rev. John 
Johnston. The dedicatory address was delivered by Hon. 
John J. Monell, and the foIlowiniLi' Ode, written by Mrs. Mary 
E. MoNELL, was suul;- by a. choir: 

Free men, pansc;! this ground is holy: 

Noble spirits suffered hero ; 
Tardy justice, marching slowly. 

Tried their faith from year to year — ■' 
Yet their patience 

Conquered every doubt and fear. 

Sacred is this mansion hoary, 

'Neath its roof-tree years ago, 
Dwelt the father of oar glory. 

He whose name appalled the foe, 
(ireater honor 

Home nor hearth can never know. 

Unto hini and them are owing 

Peace a.i stable as our hills ; 
Plenty, like yon river flowing 

To the sea from thousand rills; 
Love of country. 

Love that every bosom thrills. 

Brothers ! to yo\u- care is given, 

Safe to keep this hallowed spot; 
Though our warriors rest in heaven. 

And these places know them not. 
See ye to it 

That their deeds be ne'er forgot. 

With a prayer your faith expressing. 

Raise your countr.v's flag on high; 
Here, where rests a nation's blessing. 

Stars and stripes shall float for aye ! 
Mutely telling 

Stirring tales of days gone by. 



WAf^nmrrTOTfi JlEAB-qUAETERK 



11 



Wliilc tli<' last stall/as was li'ivcii, .A[aji)r-(T('ii('ral Wixftki^d 
ScdTT rais(Ml tlic Aiia'rican llai;' u|>oii llic tbi^'-statr. Tlic Dec- 
laration ui' lii(l('|i(Mi(l('iicc was tlicii read by FuEnEiticK J . P)KTTS, 
Esi|., and an oration dcliNci-cd by the Hon. .lonx W . iviMoNns. 
This vcncraldc relic and tliese lioly ^-rounds wei'e lliiis set 
a|»ai't and conseci'aled. to lie forever kept to awaken sacre(l 
and |»a ti'iot ic memories. 

Since tlie dedication, the ^'rminds snri'onndin^' the house 
have licen improNiMl liy the city, and iiy the volmdary con- 
tribution of trees on the part of residents in the \icinity. 
'I'he State has recently adde(|, by purchase, the lot on the 
south, which was orii^'inally pai't ol the property. f'or the 
coUoctiiui of relics, the puldi<- are mainly ind(dite(l to the 
lat(^ E\(M'ii Caktkk, although many of the articles have been 
added by juivate pai'tics. 




12 



WA SUING TON'S HE A D- Q UAR TEES. 



Ma6l)ittgt0n's ^amtb. 



TTT-ASHINGTON'S family, while he occnpiod this build- 
W iiiii', cdiisistcd di' hiiiiselt', his wii'c, and liis Aid-de- 
caiii]), (Tciicial Ai.KXAXUKR Hamilton ; liic \vil'<' dl" the latter 
was an occasidnal iiicniher oi' the t'aiiiily. The larg'e rodiii, 
which is entered rroiii the piazza on tiie east, known as "the 
iiiiini witii seveii.dddrs and one window," was used as the 
dining- and sitting' rooin. It is witluiut ceiling", and is span- 
ned l>v heavy smootldy hewn oak timbers. Uu the south 
si(h> df the room is the tire-]jlace, with its wide-opiMi chimney, 
suggest i\-e of hnge liack-lngs and massive fires. Tlie old 
single window still gives lig-ht on the east ; the seven an- 
cient ddors alldrd the means of ingress and eg'ress. On the 
ndrtli was W'asihxcton's Ited-room, and adjoining it, lh;it 
occui)ie<l hy Hamilton when his wife was with him — at other 
times his room was up-stairs. The family room was on the 
south. ll is now used to preserve and exhibit relics from 
the liatlle-Uelds of the Kexolutioii, with some from the war 
of 1SI2, and also from the .Mexican war. ll is the oldest 
pai't of the bnilding. The pai'lor was the north-west room; 
the kitchen, the soiith-wesl room. between the latter and 
the former are a store-room, hall and stair-case. In its day 
the house was I'eg'arded as of the better class of larmer's 
residences. In its preservation we have in striking contrast 
the JirchitectiU'c of i)ast and present times. 

As the war was drawing to its close, it became evident 
that WAsnixciTON would be called, by conunon consent, to the 
head of the govermnent soon to be estaldished. He there- 
fore l>i'ouglit (leneral Hamilton, who had distinguished him- 



NORTri. 
UG2 



18 .6 



w 



w 
1- 

CQ 



ST/\/RS 



L 



18.6 



12 .6 



i*s 



ci t^ 



23.6 b jiyAlfl S 



> 



23.6 



Fire pi REt j 



23.6 



23.6 



SOUTH. 



o>9ic 



A.— Sitting Roonn. 
B.— Family Room. 
C— Kitchen. 
D.— Hall. 



E.— Washington's Parlor. 
F.— Hamilton's Bed-Room. 
G.— Washington's Bed-Room. 
H. — Store Room. 



Yl-2 



WASHINGTOXS HEAD-QUARTERS. 13 

self at Yorktdwn, and wlio was ackiiowled^'od to bo the 
ablest and most accomplislicd statosiiiaii of tlie country, into 
close and inuii.'diate i)efsonal relations. Ind(M'd, so intimate 
were their rclalinns that Ikvixc, on the authority <if Mrs. 
Hamilton', says that W.\sH[\(;r()X, "now and tlicn, spiTke of 
him by tlie cherishing ai^pidation of 'my boy'." He after- 
wards became Secretary of tlie 'fri'asury, and l)rot.i;'hl the 
nation out of its liiianciai ditlicult ies. He wiMtc tiic I'ai'e- 
well .Vddress of W.xshi.vutox, and the manuscriiit in his 
handwriting is still preserved. Wasuixuimx was aware of 
Hamii.tox's intliieiici', and counteracted the rising jealousy of 
the radical democrats l)y calling theii- leader, Thomas Jkk- 
FKKsox, into liis cabinel as Seci'ctary of State. The two 
secrelai'ies represented the extreme opinions of the great 
])arties int(» whicli the country was then and sulise(piently 
divided. W'ashixci'ox stood between them, and l)y appeals 
to their patriotism, harmonized their action so as to promote 
the piililic good. Tlie ( ro\-ernmeid, when organi/,e(l, was 
neither entirely democratic, nor federal, nor re])ul)lican. It 
was federal in its ndations. republican in its character, and 
derived its life-blodd from the democratic element. It fitly 
represents the life and character of W'.vshixctox, and stands, 
like him, alone among the nations of the world. 

Mrs. Wasiiixctox was a woman of medium size and ])ortly 
person, of great dignity of manners, )ileasing an<l affable 
and full of bene\olence and charily. When her husband 
\\'ent into winter (piartei's, he sent an escoi't to accomjiany 
her from .Mount \'ernon. She usually travelecl in a plain 
chariot, accompanied by jxistillions in white and scarlet 
liveries, and attractcil no little attentimi as she ]>assed 
through the country. W'hiUi at New Windsor and \ew- 
l)urgh, in accordance with her I'cgidar practice, she sought 
out the poor that she might reliexc them, and cidtivate<l the 
accjuaintance of hei' neighl)ors. She was fond oi" gai'deiiing, 
of raising plants and tlowers by her own care and labor. 
Her >!'ai'(len was on the east side ol' the house, and the red 



14 WASHINGTON'S HEAD- QUA R TEES. 

tile ov hi-ick, wliicli formed the sides of the walks, remained 
for many years as she left them. If report be true, on one 
occasion at least, she exercised tiie }»rivilege of her sex, in 
giving- a curtain lecture to her hnshand. The (leneral had 
perhaps staid out too late wlien visiting Mrs. Knox, who Avas 
often his partner in the dance, or it may }iav<> been after a 
ball at her house, which he opencil with IMakia Coldex, one 
of the belles of the neighborhood ; on one of these occasions, 
or at some other time, she was overheard, by a |)('rson sleep- 
ing in the adjoining room, calling the (xeneral t(t account. 
VViien she had entirely finished, his only response was. "(Jo 
to sleep, my dear !" 

The habits of the household, Avith regard to their meals, 
were nuich after the English maimer of living. Breakfast 
was iid'ornial ; after which all the UK-mbers of the I'ainily 
followed their own inclinati(jns, or Idled such engagements 
as they might have, till the dinner hour, being present at 
biiich or not, as they choose. \Vasiii\(;t()N always waiit('(l 
Indian cakes for l)reakfasl, aftei' the Virginia fashion, lie 
usually nioiiiited his iiorse, soon aftci- breakfast, expecting 
to meet iiis ofiiccrs during tiie morning. " lie lu'okc his own 
horse, was a l>old and excellent ridei-. leaping the highest 
fences, and going exti'emely <piick without standing upon 
his stii'ru|)s, bearing on his bridle, or letting his horse run 
wi^d." 

Dinner was a formal meal at which all were ex])ected to 
be promptly pesent in appropriati' costume. It was usually 
served at live o'clock, Washixutox always appearing in a 
blue coat with brass butt(jns. Five nunutes were allowed 
for the variation of ckx^ks, and then the dinner conmienced 
whether the family and guests were present oi' absent. He 
is said always to have asked a blessing, in a standing pos- 
ture, unless the Chaplain was pres<'nt, who, in such case, w:is 
requested to perform the service, and also to return thanks. 
Three or more officers in order were regular guests by invi- 
tation. When IIamii.tox was present, he did the hoiu)rs of 



WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 15 

th(^ table, and wlicii he was absent some other Aid-de-eamp 
took his ])hice. "Hamilton," writes rTraysou, "always ac- 
(jnittcd himselt', at the head of the table, witli an ease, ])r()- 
|)riety and vivacity which gave one the most favoraV)le im- 
pression ot" his talents and aecomplislnnents." The (Jeneral 
and ^Irs. W.\sniN(;Tox occnpied adjacent seats at ]lA^^I.TON's 
right. There were g-enerally three courses; the iirst consist- 
ed of meats and vegetables, then pastry, and last, walnnts 
and a))j)les. There was an abnndance of Madeira and ( 'hiict, 
and sometimes other French wines, drank with toasts and 
sentiments, to enliven or check the conversation as might be 
necessary, bnt no one was ever pressed to dri)d\. The din- 
ner lasted about two lioiirs, and the iirst toasts drank were 
ceremonious ones. After dinner the table, ^\■llicll was long, 
was made round, ajid tea and cotfee were serve(l by Mis. 
\V'ashi\(;ti)\, she always presiding at this part <if llie enter- 
tainment with her accustomed dignity, her s<'t of siher, 
which she carried witli her, always briglitly |»oii,shed, being 
brought into daily recpiisition. A supjier talde was spread 
at nine (j'clock, which lasted till eleven. It was composed 
of three tir four light dishes with fruit and walnuts. 'J'iie 
cloth being remijved, toasts and S(Mitiments were given o\ei' 
a glass of wine, witliont orih'r or ceremony, each guest being 
caHed upon in turn. The Marcjvus de Chastklll'x, a, juember 
of the French Academy, Avho came out as a Major-(Teneral 
with (Jount de IlocHAMiiKAi;, was the guest of WAsni\(iT(i\ for 
some (hiys on two occasions ; one, vvliile he was at Newbiirgh, 
In his travels, published in lIST, he si)eaks in tin'" most en- 
thusiastic terms of the eiiiertainments given him, whieli, he 
says, were free and agreeable, "(Jeneral WAsnixcrox laas/iiKj 
and conversing all the time, * * the nuts aresei'ved half 
open, and the company are never done ])icking and eating 
thenij'^- 

Gulian C. Verplanck, in an elo(pient and patri<itic artii'lc;, 
wi'itten by him for the New York Mirror of 18B4, relates the 
following anecdote, told him by Colonel Nicholas Fish, father 



16 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

of H(jii. Hamilton Fish : " The distinguished Secretary of Le- 
g'atioii from France to this country, during' the Revohition, 
Mabois, was the guest (i( WASHixcixox at NcAvburgh, and was 
very much impressed with the h()S|tilality of his liost, aiidof 
his quarters. More than lialf a ceutury al'terwards lie gave 
a diniier, at his own magnificently furnished house in Paris, 
to which Lafayette, then an old man. was invited to meet the 
American Minister, with several oi' liis eninitrymen. The 
dinner was served in Parisian style, and everything was in 
excellent taste, so as to excite the admiration of the jiarty. 
The repast heing over and the evein"ng far spent in agreeable 
and joyous conversation, the guests w(n"e in\-ited in to sup- 
per, and were introduced into a room which contrasted 
strangely with the elegantly furnished apartments they lu^d 
just left. There was a large o))en Hre-place, and ])lain <iaken 
floors: the ceiling was sup])ortcd with large hcams and 
whitewashed: there were several small-sized doors and only 
one wimhiw with heavy sash and small panes of g'lass. The 
furniture was plain and unlike any then in use. Down the 
centre of the room was an oaken tahle covered with dislies of 
meat and vegetables, decantei's and bottles ol" wine, and silvt-r 
mugs and snudl wine glasses. 'J'he whole had something 
the appearance of a l")utch kitchen. AN'hile the guests were 
looking art)und in suri)rise at this strange procedure, the host, 
addressing himself to them, said, "Do you know where we 
now are if" Lafayette looked around, and as if awakening 
from a dream, exclaimed, "Ah! tlu; s(!ven doors and one 
window, and the silver camp goblets such as the marshals 
of France used in my youth. We are at Washington's Head- 
quarters on the Hudson lifty years ago." 
/" The following an<'cdote, which has, ever since it happened. 
l)een relate(l in the neighliorhood, shows the infinite t;i;'t of 
Washi\(;ton: "An oihcer to whom he was strongly attached, 
was dangerously ill, and he ordered him to be brougld to 
the Head-quarters, that he might receive the careful inn-sing 
he required, One of the Aid-de-camps with other young 



WASHING TON'S HEA D- Q. UAR TERS. 1 1 

officers, returiiod late in the evening;-, from a i)arty in the 
eountry, probably at the Coldex mansion, as tliey soiiietimes 
visited there, and -while they \v(M-e siltiiii;- around the old Hre- 
phu-e witii nuts, wine and ajiples, tiiey became rather noisy. 
Washix(;T(ix, who was still in his study, stejtped out, and 
aft<'r conversing with them for a i\'\v moments, related to 
them the dangerous situation of tlie sick offii-er, and return- 
ed. They were quiet for a while, but soon became mtu-e 
boisterous than ever. In the midst of their merriment, the 
door of WashixCxTox's study opened slowly and noiselessly, 
and he appeared walking on tip-toe, holding a candle in his 
hand, and passed through the room into the kitchen, (Ui the 
opposite side. He soon returned, and went into his inom, 
with noiseless tread. The disturl)anee ceased and the [)arty 
soon dispersed." 

Tliese same young officers sometimes went out among the 
Dutch settlers on the Wallkill, and even as far north as Old 
Paltz, to attend (juilting parties, ai)}de pealings and s|iinning 
bees. On one occasion they received some heads of tlax 
which they Avere expected to have spun liy some lady friends 
who, in return, they took to the frolic with the haid< of thread. 
Tiiese otlicers, with their blue coats, and lirass imttons on 
which was the impression of an eagle, were always great 
i'avorites with the girls, and objects of jealousy to their 
country beaux. The dancing was on the clean oak tioor ol' 
the kitchen. In the corner of the largo old-fashioned chim- 
ney fire-place sat a negro with a violin, who played for the 
dancers and called out the figures. At the close of eacdi 
dance he passed around his hat for peiniies and sixpences. 
The gaieties were always ended with a Virgirua reel, after 
which the young men went liome with the girls and gene- 
rally stayed till morning. The fiddler had the privilege of 
calling out the head couple, a place lor which tiiere would 
otherwise be a great rush. ^Vitll a twinkle in his eye, he 
would name those who had been marked in their attentions 
to each other during the evening, or if any one had dropped 



18 



WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUABTEES. 



an extra j^p in the hat, he was sure to be favored. This eve- 
ning', as the story goes, when all were waiting anxiously for 
the roiiiinencement of the " break down," the darkey, after 
tuning his fiddle, called out the head couple thus: 

" The man with a goasic on his button, 
The man with a goosie on his button. 
Dance to the gal with a hole in her stocking. 
Dance to the gal with a hole in her stocking." 

Amid shouts of merriment, the otticei' with his gill eagles, 
and the unfortunate f/o/, were sent tn tlie head; Iml ever 
afterwards, whenever any of the yo'ing officers came into 
lli((se parties, the boys would say: "There dimes the man 
with a g'oosie on his biuton, in see the gal with a huh' in her 
stocking." 

Additional incidents ilhistrating the customs ol' the times, 
and especially the lial)its of VV.\shington and his family, 
migid be given, l)ut those ipioied are sufticient to show that 
while llie interests of liis country received th<' most earnest 
attention of W^vsnixcTox, his family circle was made attract- 
ive by the highest ty[)e of liospitality. 




WASHiyiiTO.X'S IlEAD-qUAR TEliS. 



19 



lasMti^tott at i^eto ®tnbeor. 



'"T^lIK rciidiT lias licrn iiivitcil tn \isil \\'ashin(;t<in's Hc;nl 
1 i|naiti'i-,s at Nc\vl>ur,i;'li. ami siirr<iii)i(iiiiL; localities nt 
liisloric iiili'i'cst. 'I'lic drives eiiibraciiii;' in tlieii- cirtaiit tlie 
latleiare iiuiiien )iis and invit in,L!,". Taking' the old l\inu''s 
lii,i;'li\\ay, iidW jjilierl y si re<'t, we pass south to the Ne\\lini'L:'li 
and New W'indsoi' turnpike a iid skirl llie ii\er liank. or reach 
oiii' desliiiatioii by the way of (|uassaiek avenue and avoid 
Ihe lailroad and the coal works. Once on the way we pass 
fhron;^h the ancient xillai^'e of New Windsor, which hoasls 
the poss<'Ssion of ihe itirt li-))lace, or al least llie eai'ly home, 
of DKwrrr CriNroN. The house stands on the ri.u'hl neai- the 
loot of the hill. The father of the lieio uf the place, .after- 
wards (Jenera! Jamks Ci.iNTev, was. al the time of the i>ii'th 
of his distill^ iiished son, resident snr\eyor and a^'enl foi' the 
propiietors. who were endeaxdrin'i' ^n found here a city. 
Their W(H'k may he traced in the I'emainin.L;' streels, Inil has 
lis priiici|)iil existence on old maps of recoid. 

On the hrow of the hill, on Ihe east side of tlie road, stood 
theiild W^illiam Kllison house, c(dehrale(| as \VAsniX(;Tn\"s 
11k Aii-I^i Ai;rK!:s at .\ k\v Winhsoi;. The luiildiiiL;' was taken 
down some \-ears a^L!"o, hut a W(dl-e\ecii led oil p;i intiiii;' of it 
is presei-\'ed in the Ellison family. The ohlduek in the river 
lielow. with its store-house, was for a huiL:,' lime the seat of 
the commerce of the district. .Military stores for the aiiiiy 
were landed and kept there. In the old sm(d<e-house .-■.til! 
standinu,' Kllison deposited his plale, when thi' Rritish expe- 
dition passed up I he ri\'er in Itl'i. 'i'reasui'e was also lunieil 
in the soil at different times. Nea.r where the old huiise 



20 WASHINGTON'S HEAD- QUARTERS. 

stood, Mr. Corwin, the present owner, recently exhumed a 
jug' of curious form, in which were found six liundred and 
fifty Spanish and Mexican dollars. They were no doubt 
placed there by some officer of the army. 

Washington came to this place in June, l*(t9, and ag-ain in 
1780, where he remained till the summer of 1*181. During- 
his stay here he was invited to dine witli Colonel Ettrick, 
Avho lived in a g'rove on the north side of (^uassaick creek, 
on the grounds now occupied by the coal company's office. 
Ho had not taken any part in the war, but bis feelings were 
with the mother country. His daughter, on the otlicr hand, 
was strongly enlisted in favor of the colonies. She hud ov(!r- 
heard a conversation of some tories Avith her father, in which 
it was proposed to carj'v off ^VAS^lNGTON as a prisoner. Soon 
after this hei' father invited him to dine, and she suspecting" 
that the plan was then to be consmninated, Avent to Wash- 
ington and revealed her apprehensions. Washington accept- 
ed the invitation, but before he left for the entertainment he 
ordered a detachment of his Life Guard, dressed in p]i)glish 
uniform, to watch the house and make their appearance early 
in the evening. As they approached, Ettrick, taking- them 
for tory troops, said to his g'liest, "General, I believe yon are 
my prisoner." Washington cast his eye over the Guard, and 
replied, "I believe not, sir ; but you are mine." Ettrick, after 
having been kept a prisoner for a sluni time, was, at the 
intercession of his daughter, permitted to leave the country. 
He settled in Nova Scotia. 

It was while Washington Avas here that the American 
noA'Olist represents him, under the name of Harper, as haA-ing 
crijssed the Hudson at night to visit Harvey Birch in his 
cabin in the mountain south of Fishkill Anllage. The object 
of his AHsit was to plan for th(; escape of young Wharton, 
Avho had been tried and condemned as a spy, and who Avas 
to b(> hung the next day. Washington knew, in a Avay he 
could not reveal, that Wharton had come within our lines to 
see a sick father and two loving sisters, and not to gain 



WASHIXG TON'S HEAL- Q UARTERS. 2 1 

information for the enemy, and he therefore contrived his 
escape in the way so humorously and tlirillingly delineated 
by Cooper. 

The leading* event in the army, during- this period, was the 
revolt of the Pennsylvania troops, under Wayne, in cai«i) at 
Morristown, New Jersey. Tiie troo])s complained that they 
were held beyond their time of eidistment without pay, and 
demand<>d that Congress should redress their wrongs. The 
kindly and wise counsels (»f AVashin"(;tox and Wayne, wIki 
knew that their patriotism was not to be questioned, and 
that their complaints were well founded, prevailed and they 
returned to duty. Scarcely had this revolt been suppressed, 
before the New J(>rsey troops at Pompton, rei'used to obey 
their officers. The affair did not terminate so pleasantly as 
at Morristown. The camp was surrounded and the malcon- 
tents ordered to surrender at live minutes' notice. They 
obeyed when the sunmions was repeated, and gav(" them- 
selves up unarmed. Three of the leaders were condemned 
to death, and two of them were shot Ity twelve of their con- 
federates, tlie third having been pardoned at the last moment. 
The remainder of the troo])s returned to duty, thankful tliat 
their lives liad lieen spared, and were afterwards among the 
most faitld'ul in t!ie service. 

While these events were transpiring, the details of the 
campaign of 1*781 were an-anged by Washington. The 
French gave us men, Holland loaned us money; the troops 
were paid and clotiied, and at Yorktown, in October, the 
banner of the infant republic was planted forever among 
those of the nations of the earth. 



WA SlllMJ To .\ ' .s HE. 1 D- Q UAK TEES. 



Ixtm l^oint, ^blctoilb, etc. 



\ SHOUT ili.slaurc Itclow the Kllisoii Imiise, Pfam Point, 
Zjl or I'roiiiontoi'y liiiwii, ;is Willis cjillcd it, is a|)i)roach(Ml 
over a natural causeway, wliilr iDi.KWii.n, a Hi;j,-hlanfl (\vrie, 
is reaelied liy a wiutliug" road aloii,!^' tlie side of a drep ravine, 
where Funny Child plays ovci- llie roeks with its sparkling- 
waters, imril it is wooed to rcsl with the <lashing- stream to 
which he also _)j;'avc tiic name oi' Moodna. We shall have 
somethini^' lo say in rei;ard to this stream and its naine in 
another cha|)ter. In Idlewild wc have the home of a poet 
who has lei't the ini|iress of his ^-enins on the surroundinj;- 
country. His (h'scrip'tions of its lieantilnl scenery and the 
oelic a|)|)elhitions which he applied to its mountain, streams 

and ulcus, will eiitise his 
name (o l>e t'oi-(\-er asso- 
iiat<'d With them as inti- 
niaiely as I hat of Words- 
worih with the scenery of 
I he lakes of En,>;-land. 

( )n I'lmii Point, in tin' 
early part of the war, was 
ercct((l a hattery iif fom 
lecn Linns, (lesigMK'd to 
assist in inaintaininjj,' th(> 
olistruct ions to the navi- 
U'ation of the river which, 
^-a^Jf**' ''\ i> >; at this |ioint, consistcfl of 

Rema,nl of'^Balry. =' rhevaUX-defri^r M n^tch- 

iui^' ai-ross to Pallopel's island, whicli is s(>en throng'h the open- 
ing" ill the trees, The liattery was maintained during- the 




\]'Asi/fK/rr(>.\"s iii'iA r>-(^i'A ///'av/s'. 



war. Inr tlic purpose iiriL;'iii;i II y ili'sio-ncd and \nv llic prulcc- 
lidii (>r tiic works ill the xicimtN. It was kiiuwii, in urticial 
Orders, as "(Captain Macliin's I5atreiy ai New Windsor." 
Oiilliiies ol its enilirasures may yel \n- seen. 

Ill (lie vicinity of tlie battery are the reiiia ins oi' iliee(,'IIar 
ol' the first dwelliliij;' lioils<' wliirh was ereet.e(l north of the 
Hig'lilaiids ill the present eoiiiil_\ ol Orani;* . Its owner was 
('olonel P.\TKicK M.\(;uE(a)KiE, a Scottish i;cntleinaii of fortune, 
wlio, after serving- with distinction in the English aiiiiy in 
France under Charles II., returned to liis native land |o liud 
it torn by the ndigioiis dissentions of l)>Sl-:2. (Mie of the 
results (il' those dissensions was the emigration to .\merica 
of a considerable niimlier of Presbyterians, and among olhers 
of a company of twenty-four persons ol whom he was the 
chosen leader. With this eoinpaiiy he settled here in l(iS(), 
and erecte(| the dwelling spoken of. His biuther-iii-la w, 
D.wui Tt)SH.vcK, who boasted thi' title of "Laird of .\! inivard," 
opened a store (jii the south side oi' the creek, and had a lai'ge 
trade with the Indians. .Mackkcokik, mi anwhile, held sexcral 
official trusts under the government, and at one time was 
taken prisoner by the f'reiich and taken to Canada. II<' 
subse(iuently took part in the Leisler r<'\olution in New- 
York, and was killeil. The story of his life and adscntiires 
Would make an interesting volume. 'rosu.wK di(-d and was 
buried here, anil so did other memliers of the original com- 
]iaijy, and ultimately the settlement was lost In the shadows 
of history. All that now remains to mark it is this old ex- 
cuvatiun. 

As we leave I'liim Point and pass into the \allev of the 
.Moodiia, the inner promontory on the lell. soiiili of the mouth 
of the creek, bears the name of Si.oor llii,i,. a name which 
Willis has permitted tosui\i\-e. Its exteiideil ridge forms 
till' wa'st side of Idlewild raxiiie. Pre\iously, and at the 
time of tlie l\e\'oliili<m, there was a dock and a storedioiise 
at the foot of the hill, near the bridge, to which sloops came 
at high tide. There is a tra<lition that, bel'on,: the settlement 



24 WASHINGTON'S HEAD- QUARTERS. 

of the country, a sloop came up the river, hiden with rum 
and trinkets of various kinds, to trade with the Indians; 
that it ran aground at the mcjuth of the creek, where the 
Indians attacked and murdered the crew, and that the hill 
bears its name in commemoration of the event. We do not 
like to question traditions that "take the form of history," 
but in this instance we venture to sug-gest that the hill was 
given the name it bears from the fact that at its base was the 
haven or harbor for sloops. The Dutch kept pretty accurate 
record of murders by the Indians, and so important an oc- 
currence as that stated in tlu; tradition would hardly have 
escaped notice. 

At this pt)int the roads diverge; that on the left leads to 
Idlewild and Canterbury, and that on the right to localities 
in which we have more inniiediate interest. 




WASHING TON'S HE A T). Q UAR TERS. 



25 



^afajjettes ^eab -quarters. 



rir^HE Head-quarters of Washington being establislied at 
J_ Newburg'h, and the principal part of the troops of tlie 
line encamped in the vicinity, necessarily brought together 
the leading officers of the army, who established their seve- 
ral Head-quarters in farm-luuises in proximity to the camps 
ol' their counnands. A portion ol' them, however, occupied 
the "officer's barracks," as they were called, near the camp 
ground at New Windsor. Passing over the spur of Sloop 
Ilill, we enter the little village of Moodna, shut in among 
tile hills and still fragrant with the memory of "Mrs. Miller's 
Kose-leaf Tobacco and Snufl"," iVom which a large fortune 
was made by the rose-beds and factory iiere. Just beyond 
the paper mills of Erastus Ide & Co., and forming a part of 
that property, stands the bnikling known as Lafayette's 
Head-quarters. Since its occupation by LaI'^ayette it has 
suffered very little change, the old stairways and (putintiy 
carved mantels being retained, though showuig the wear of 
lime, 'fhe \aidt in the cellar, wherein it is said the money 
obtained iiiidei' what is known as the "Dutch loan," was 
deposited, is in good condition, although in these days ol' 
adroit burglars it w<udd prov(^ anything but safe. The house 
is jiow occupied by tenant families, but is nevertheless ac- 
(•essilile to the curious. The valley in which it is situated 
has an Arcadian (piiet in its atmosphere and a rare [)iclur- 
escpieiiess from tlu' ancient ))in(^s which guard its a|ipi-oaches 
on the east. It has a history too, from otiun- causes than its 
association with the name of Lafayette. The forges at which 
the chains and other obstructions to the luivigation of the 
Hudson were made, were located here, and their debris is yet 



2fi 



WA SHTNG TON'S HE A D- Q UA B TEES. 



iii(iiiii(1(m1. Just licyoiid the liAFAVKTTF, house, at tlic loot of 
Kdr^c Hill, Samiki. Hrkwstkh, a Puritan, wliosc ancestors 
eaiue over iu the May Fh)\ver, had a t'ori^'e with I'our lii'es 
and an aiichory. The ore used was brought from the Forest 
of Dean mine on jjaek-horses over the mountains. The lai\i;'e 
cannon abandoned l)y ('lintox (tn iiis march to Kin,^'ston 
(now at VVashiuo'toirs Head-(|uartei-s), is su))|»osed to have 
been cast at tliis for,i2,'e. 

Lafayette's residence iiere was only for a short pei-iod, and 
without special incidents of note. It is a tradition that lie 
kept in his hall an overtiowint;' tiowl of punch, wliicli at that 
ti)ne was c(»nsider(Hl the hin'hest evidence of hospitality. He, 
with the other French officers, brouglit over a larp' (juantity 
ol choice wines, and, if I'oports current in the nei,G,'hborhood 
for years afterwards, be true, they did not leave their ^al Ian- 
try iu France. Hf also has local reputation in another story. 
The Head-quarters of (jeiKM-als Knox and (treexe, a short dis- 
tance fTuI her west, was his favoi'ite visitin,u' place. .\[rs. I\Nf)X 
was an aci-oniplished woman, ami often had soirees, to which 
persons of cultivation were incited from Newlmru,!!, Mont 
U'omery and the suriiuinding- ccuintry. I.akavettk was the 
lif(- of these me<-tin|i;'s, and whil(> ,L!,"oili,U' to o)ie tif them, he 
tbund it necessary to ci'oss the creek on the back of an 
li'ishman, who lost his footing;' and droi)])e(| his burden in 
the water. The (xi'iieral was \ery much cliai;iined at the 
mishap, and was oblio'ed to return home and disappctint the 
parly. The Irishman l)ecanie so detested for his blunderim;' 
step that he had to leave the neiu'hborhood. 

.\llied to W \shin<;T()X during' the lJe\-olut ion, and with him. 
as di\ ision connnandei', dui'in<;- his stay at \ewburi;h, was 
(Uie whom this nation will e\ci- honor and respect. b.\KAVKrrK 
stands n<'.\t to W'AsniNciiiN in the hearts of the .\meric-an 
people, lie foui;'lit with us not loi' lion<ir, nor for rank, nor 
for w<'altli, nor for loxc of country, foi- he Ma\e up all these 
with the luxuries of a court, to aid a cause almost hopeless. 
Me was inspireil with the love of libert\'; that altpue ner\eil 



\VA fiJTTNG TO K ' N IfK. I /)- O / ^.1 /,' TEHS. 



27 



liis ;ii-m, and ciidiiwcd liiiii willi tlir sa^'acity id' a sa,ii,'('. He 
a|i|K'ai-s 1(1 lia\c liccn s|iccially dcsiLi'iicil \\y l'i-((\ idciicf i'nr 
llic iiiissidii lie tilled so ^'li n'ii Misl y. lie was liorii at ('liava- 
iiiac ill IT;")!. His lainily was (Uic (if tlic Inn-licsl rank oi' 
I'^'ciicli iiiiliility, and li(> an lirir (d' one oi' llic '^(dicst houses 
in Franee. In tlie snnuiiei' oj' ITTd, wiieii idneteen years id' 
ai;(', as a ("a|itain of iM'au'diins, lie was statimied a1 .\i(dz, 
iii'ar I'aiis. W Idle there lie was invited to a diiiiiei- ])arty 
i;'i\-en liy the i;ai'i'isoii to the Dnke (d' (iloiicesler, iirother oi' 
till" KiiiLi-of Knudaml. 'The |)nke sjioke rre(d_\' of American 
alTairs, and state(l as an ext raordiiiary i'acd, that the reiiKdc, 
seattei'e(| and niiprotecte(l Aliieiiean S(dtlers in a wildelliess, 
had solf'tinilt/ declari'd fjit'iiisc/rcs iin iiideprtidrnl pcujilc, L,\- 
I'AYETTK was all eiitliiisiastic listener. His iinaninalioii was 
kindleil, at on<-e, with a liiiniin.t;' desire to draw his swdiwj to 
aid a ciNili/ed |)eo|de stniu'ii'liii^- to he ['n-i'. and iMd'ore he 
hd't ihe lalde l.ds resolution was iixed. How reiiiarkalde, 
that the In-other (d" the KiiiLi'id' Eii<;']aiid should have iincini- 
srimisly enlisted IVoin the French court, so |iowerl'ul a cliani- 
idcni in helialf of the Colonies, and tin' one of all others, as 
the result |iro\-ed. to enlist the l''reii(di natifUi in the contest. 
l.Ai AVKii !■; went ininii'(|iately to I'aris 1o |n'e|iare for his 
de|iarture. While there, news came cd' the e\acnaliun (d' 
N'ew York, <d' Ihe surrender of Fort \\'asllin^■ton and of ihe 
disastrous ndreat tlir(nii:li .\e\\ derse_\-. All his friends hut 
his yiuiiiij;' Inide opposed his project, ;ind pidnted to the re- 
cent calamit ies which had I lefa 1 1 en mi r arms, as evidence of a 
hopidess cause. His answer was, " 'I'heii they iiee(| Ii(d|i all 
the more." Our I'aris cominissioners told him "that tliev 
did not possess (he means nor the crolit to pi'oi-iii'e a \ess(d 
foi- him in all the ]iorts (d' Fraiici'." "Then," he excdaiined, 
" I will pro\ ide my own," and imnie(|ialely ordere(| a vessid 
to he lilted out at IJonleaiix. iiein^- under a.^'e, censured liy 
his family, watched hy liritish spies, ami feariiiL!,- a prohild- 
ti<ui IVoiii the kiiiL;'. and an arii'st, he sailed in his vessel 
unprepared, into a port in Spain. Ipoii enteiiiiij,' the harlior 



28 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUABTEBS. 

he encountered officers with a royal order for liis return. H(! 
obeyed the summons, but soon escaped and went back to liis 
vessel disguised as a courier, sleeping on the way upon 
straw in a stable. He managed to get on board his ship 
with eleven officers, and cleared for the West Indies, but as 
soon as he was outside of land he steered for the United 
States. After sixty days he arrived at Georgetown, South 
Carolina, having barely escaped from being taken by two 
British war vessels. He repaired to Philadelphia and offered 
to serve in the army as a volunteer without pay. T])e mem- 
bers of Congress, then in session, were tilled with admira- 
tion of his determined spirit, and without an hour's delay, 
gave him the commission of Major-general. Not yet twenty 
years old, he was placed by the side of Washington, who, at 
that time had not seen him, and who considered his high 
appointment merely as a mark of honorable distinction. 
Washington, with his usual caution, so planned it that their 
iirst meeting should be at a dinner party, where he could 
form some judgment of the youth without his being con- 
scious of his attention. He watched him closely, and as the 
party were about to separate, he had a private interview 
with him, in which he invited him to make his Head-quarters 
his home, and to reg-ard himsi!ll' as one (^f his family. 

Lafayette immediately went into active service and dis- 
tinguisiied himself for liis military skill and bra^■('ry, so 
much so, at tlie battle of Brandywinc, as to awaken general 
enthusiasm in his favor. After two years of active service, 
marked with honorable scars, sigiiali/A'<l by the thanks of 
Congress, tlu' admiration of ^Vmcrica, and the friendshi}) of 
Washington, he returned to his native country. He had left 
in disobedience of the king's order, but on his return he was 
received with unbounded enthusiasm by the king, the minis- 
try and the people. He availed himself of this feeling to 
obtain aid for America. Through his intluence the army of 
Rochambeau was sent to our assistance, and a large pecuni- 
ary subsidy was obtained. This being accomi)lished, he 



WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 29 

came back to his post in the American army, and there 
remained till the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktuwn, one 
of whose redoubts he stormed at the point of the bayonet. 
After this event, he again, with the consent of Congress, 
crossed the ocean ibr tlie purpose of arousing France and 
S})ain, with tlieir armies and treasure, to combine in our 
favor and overwhelm our enemies. The entiiusiasm with 
which he was Jiailed upon reaching the French coast, was 
only equalled by that which greeted Napolf.o.x on his escape 
from Elba. All that he asked tor was immediately granted. 
Sixty vessels of the line and twenty-four thousand troo])S, 
in a short time, I'endezvoused at Cadiz. I;akavette was 
then at Brest and started otf with eight thousand men, wlio 
had flocked to his standard, to take the conunand. The 
British government, in the midst of this prcpai-ation, gave 
up the contest. Lafayktte sent the tirst news of the glorious 
tidings to America and soon l"ollowed lor a short visit to view 
the young giant Republic as it aro.se in its might, aftei' a 
seven years' struggle with the British Lion. No tongue can 
tell the enthusiasm with which he was recei\ed on reaching 
Boston. He was ever3'where hailed witli acclamations oi' 
joy from the people who looked upon \\ AsinxciTox and La- 
fayette as the saviors of their country. 

in August, 1H24, Lafayette, u))on the invitation of l)oth 
houses of ('Ongress, after an absence of forty years, I'cvisitiMl 
this country as the Nation's Guest. A dei)utation from ihc 
citizens of Newburgh was sent to New York to ascei'tain 
when In' would ari'ivc at their village. They wcr*' to com- 
municate the result by Beacon liglits, as in the days oi' the 
Kevolutioii. At seven o'clock on the evening of September 
iBth, while thousands of (>yes were uplurne(l towai'ds tli(^ 
Fishkill mountains, an.xiously awaiting tlie pi'econcerjed 
signal, a column of lire suddenly shot up from the South and 
also from the North Beacon, indicating that he would arrive 
the next day. These two pillars of tire lighted up tlie river 
and the whole surroundinti' countrv. TIk; news was herahled 



30 I VA STILXG TO N ' S TJhl 1 D- Q I '1 /? TEllS. 

by reliiys of Ikhscs IVoiii town to town, and liy dayli.^'ht the 
next iiiorniiijj,- the people, old and yoiinu', male and female, 
from far and near, wlietlier Ameiican Ixuii or adopted, l)et;-aii 
to pour intti the villa^-e. Arches were thrown across the 
principal sti'eets, de<'orated with flowers and everi^'reens, 
and appropriate [jatriotic inseri])tions. Addresses of wel- 
come wei'e delivered on liehalf of the citizens and of the 
Orun^-e County Ag'i-icultural Society, and at Hiram Lodg'e, 
F. A. M., he was receixcd as an old hrother. The cavalry 
and infantry were all out dniini^- his stay. The riuj4'in<i,' tif 
Ixdls, tlx' tiring" of cannon, and thousands of L!,-reetini;'s fntm 
the streets, from the side-walks, from all the doors and 
windows, and house-tops, attended his ti'iuniphal uiarcdi. 
The eiji'ht hundred thousand w(dcomes which the Eufidisli 
poet rani;' out uj)on the arrival of Alexandria, Prince Albert's 
liride, from Denmark, were the mere echo of those which 
attended Lafayette everywhere, when all the people said : 

■'And let the raniiou roar 

The jo.v-stuuued country o'er. 
And let the .steeple chime it, 

A hundred thousand welcomes 
And a hundred thousand more. 

And let the people rhyme it 
From neighbor's door to door, 
From every man's heart's core, 

A hundred thousand welcomes, 
A hundred thousand more.' 






WA SlllSa TllWs head- q UAJ{TEi:s. 



31 



^cab-quadcv6 of ih\ok anb fevffnc. 



1KAVIN(; the valley of the Muddiia, we ascnid Vnv^v 
^ Hill to tlic talilc-laiids ol' New Wiiidsoi'. A slioii dis- 
tance alxtve, (111 tlie li^id, sfiiod a Iniildiiii;' wliieli was 
nccii|iied l>_v IJoeHAMi'.i'.Ai' diiriiiii' liis I'riei' stay lier(\ wliile 
Ix'l'ore lis, (111 the lel'l, is llie pici iires(| lie old stdiic lioiise, with 

^ hi,i;'li eeiliiiu', waiiiseotinii', 

dormer windows, Ilea vv sash 




IIkI -.11 ill I IIK s ol ^1 iss, 

1 II i\\ II In th( III \|i (^1 \HI1 RS 

( il \l N l\ N(i\ \\|i ( il V F \E. 



rKU!^^,^, 



r ■> air I 




It wa- liiiilt l)\ Ji UN 

Kl,I,lS()\ OlK I I tlh ( II -r.. 

]y setth 1 s to I ik( lli( I T^ 
|)lace ol a lo_ hut | 

('rect((l li_\ hill, \\l,(i, l,( ii,„l ,..i,„ ,1.1.- iiii^ \\ iKiei iiess 
coiuitry (1135). Tlie hoiiS(> loiinerly IVolite(| the old (Jdsheii 
road, which was discoiit iiiiied when llie |ireseiit liirnnike 
was made. The latter runs in Ihe rear oT the house and to 
accoiiiiiHxIate it is tinned out of a strais^'ht line. ,'<il\-ei- 
(•reek, that rises in tlie hills li(;yond VVashini^-ton S(|iiar(', as 



33 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTEBS. 

it comes down is made to expand into twin lakes (joined 
together under the bridge on the turnpike), reaching up to 
tlie sloping lawn of the house. From the lakes water is 
conducted to the wheel of one of the oldest flouring mills in 
the county, nestled under the trees on the edge of a deep 
ravine. To it the settlers came from a distance of several 
miles, for many years, to obtain flour and meal, or to get 
grain ground which they brought in bags on horseback. 
The stream, after leaving the mill, passes through a rocky, 
wild glen, by a succession of cascades, and then flows into 
the Moodna by the side of a wide-spreading plateau, covered 
with moss, soft grass and a succession of heml-ock groves. 
This spot is entirely shut out from observation, and reminds 
one of the inioks over-grown with flr trees amid the Trosachs 
of Scotland. 

"Who comes uot hither, ue'er shall kuow 
How beautiful the woi-ld below; 
Nor can he guess how lightly leaps 
The brook adown the rocky steeps." 

The Prince of Peace, as well as the (U)d of War, is rep- 
resented in the historical associations of the place. The 
building staiuling about three hundred feet west of the 
house was tlu^ first Methodist Church edifice in the present 
county of Orange. As early as 1*189, there was organized 
here what was called the John Ellison Class. In 1790-'91, 
Mr. Ellison erected this building expressly for the religious 
services of the Class, and it continued in occu))ation by the 
pioneers of Methodism until 180*1, when the edifice on the 
hill was erected and the Society regularly organized. 

Let us now turn to its heroes of the Revolution. General 
Knox was born in Boston in 1750, fought as a private at 
Bunker Hill, w^as coinnuvnder of artillery during the war, 
and afterwards Secretary of War under Washington. He 
was a Scotch Presbyterian, and possessed many of the stern 
qualities of that distinguished reformer of the same name, 
without his rough manner. He was a man of great urban- 
ity, and exceedingly generous and social in his disposition. 



WASHING TON'S HEAD- Q, UAB TERS. 33 

At the time of the threatened reAolt in tlie army, he did all 
in his power to allay the diseontent. Washington rode to 
his quarters and lunelied, on the morning of the 15th March, 
previous to the meeting of ofKeers, and then they rode 
together over to the Temple. Hamilton speaks of him as 
huving more intluence with the arni}^ than any otiier person 
except the Connnander-in-chief. After Washington had fin- 
ished his address in the Temide he wifhdrew. No sooner 
had he left the room tha.n General Knox moved and General 
Putnam seconded, a resolution tendering the thanks of tiie 
convention to "His Excellency, and assuring him thai the 
officers reciprocated his aflectionate expressions with the 
great<'st sincerity of which tln^ hunuvn heart is capable." 
This resolution was unanimously adopted; and was followed 
by another appointing General K xox, ('olouol Hrooks, and 
(-aptain Howard a coinmittee to reixirt resolutions. This duty 
was performed and the resolutions adopted by acidamation. 

(icneral Knox was one of the originators of the Society of 
the Cincinnati. The original draft of the |)ropositi<>ns is 
still preserved in his handwriting, but it is generally sup- 
)iosed that the idea was suggested by Baron Stkuben, who 
was charged with it and never denied the charge. Wlien 
the country became alarmed as to the objects of the Society 
Knox refusecl to wear its badge, and fearing that his motives 
would be misunderstood, wished to give it u]* altogether. 

General Greenk occupied the building with Kxox. He 
was born in Rhode Island in 1*742, and distinguished him 
self during the war foi- his bravery, tbi' his loyalty, and for 
his great amiability. He was the officer whom Washington 
loved. From his own means, while at this place, he supplied 
the soldiers with clothing and food until his estate t)ecanie 
embarrassed. Soon after the war he went to the South, and 
died from a sun-stroke, on the Savannah river, but all traces 
of his burial place are lost. 

It was the practice of the officers to meet at the Heafl- 
quarters, or at the quarters of some one of the division 



H4 



WA SlllXO TOX'S HEAD- (J UAB TEUS. 



coiiiiiKiiKlcrs, eva-ry day in tlic wt'ck. This cnstoiu had liccii 
lei'diiiiiiciided b}'; Steihkx as caicidatcd to attach the (ifficcis 
to tlir Coiiiiiiaiidev-in-chiet". As Mrs. Kxox and Mrs. Wasii- 
in(;T().\ were witli th<'ir husliands, tlie liicetinj^-s at their (juar- 
ters were li'enerally in tlie evening-, wlien, says Stf.l I'.kn : 
"The time was S])eii1 dver a eiip (if tea or cofl'ee, vv'ith ap{)U's 
and hickiiry nuts, in their seasmi. Tliere were no levees oi' 
turnial soirees, no (hmeini!,' and ]ihiying' or ainnsements of 
any kiml exeejit sinii'in,u\ Every lady nr ^'eiitleniaii wlm 
enidd sill^• was ealled upon for a son^-." 

On one oeeasion, however, Mrs. Kxox deparli'd fidiii tiic 
;j,-eneral eustoni and gave an entertainment. 'I'he fare was 
simple, hut the numher in attendance was larL:,-e. \V.\shin(;- 
Tox openecl the dance with Makia Coi.dkx, of ("ohleiiham. 
(frrrv WvxKunr and Sai,i,>- .Ianskx, ^'reat lieHes in their (hiy, 
from near (>\<\ i'allz, were present, and the naiin's of this 
trio (if lieauties wi're inscrilx'd with a diamond on one of 
th'' small window-panes, in the sash of the principal room, 
will-re they still remain. Stf.i hkx. who, tiflecn years liefore, 
Imd won the uniform o|' |-'re(lerick, and who was skilled in 
court ceremouirs. crossed the river in a small lioat to he 
present. lie had in a rcpuhlican uniform, with a u'lilterinsi" 
star on his left lueast wtui in the hattlcs of !nV native land, 
lie spoko liri'ken f]m;'lisli, Imt was much cimrtcd for hi> 
acconiplishmenls and ovcrilowin^' kindness. IIamii.tox, of 
wlioni TAi.rKVAKAXD said, " 1 have seen in my lif<' three ji'reat 
lUf'U. Xai'oi.kox Hoxapautk, (iKoKCK Fiix and Ai.kxaxuki! IIam- 
ii.Tox," mi^'ht he seen llicrc with the youuLf and 'j,-allant 
liAKAVKTTK. a fathei'aud Ma jor-ii'eneral loved and trusted on 
two continents and not yet twenty-one. .\nd (iAiKs, whose 
northern laurels were exchanu'cd for droopiuu' willows in his 
s(Mitliern campaign; and Mai> Axtuonv, and all the celehri- 
ties of the camp, miuuled in the inerrv dance, foru'ettiuii" for 
the time the atfaiis of state, and the distress of the army 
then almost within sound oj' the music. 



WASHING TON'S HEAD- Q. UARTEBS. 



35 



Jeatr- quarters of j^ates anb Bt. Slatr. 



I^UE lf('a(l-(|uartcrs of" (icncrals (i.xTEs and St. Ci-air were 
at w'liat is kiidwii as the Kdiiioiistoii lioiise. iKnir Vail's 
(iatr. The iiniMiii>;- is of" stmie and was rn^cted in 1755. 
Very Utile is said (•(inccrniiig' tlieiv oc'eu])ati<>ii of it ; indeed, 
lliiTc is d()nl)t ill regard to the matter, it l)ein<i' traditionally 
assrrtcd that tlic Imspiial stores and Head-(|iiart('rs of the 
.\fedieal Statil" were here, and that the (ifficcrs named were at 
the Iniildiiiii- mi the opposite side of the road. 

(iencral (!.\tk< was an Eni!,-lislinian liy liirtli, and was edu- 
cated foi- th<' military profession, lie was in command of 
the iiortliein army in IT", and the victory over BrK(;()VNK, 
at SaratoLi'a. l»y tlie t'orcc^s under his romniand, L^ave him 
.U'reat eclat. From that time, his personal vanity led him to 
as|)ire to the place occii|»ied liy W ashin(;T(».\. Ife never. 
ap|)areiitly, reliiupiisiied this desire, and it has Ixm'ii intima- 
ted tiiat the Xe\vl)Ui'<>'li Tjctters. written as they were liy his 
.\id-de-cam]), wer<' ins])ii'ed \)\ him with a view to enti"a|i 
\VAsniN(;Tox, and thus secure his removal I'rom the (•ommand. 
lie was an accomplished gentleman in his manners. l)nt did 
not possess a l)i'illiaiit or a hi^'hly cnltivated int<dlect. His 
pati'iotism was never (piestione(l ; the only stain resting- 
ii))oii his menioi'v is his conduct towards \VAsHiN(;id\. 

(Jeiicral Si. Ci.aik was a native of Kdinhuru'h, in Scotland. 
He was horn in I 7o4, ami came to this counliyat the a^'c of 
twenty-one years. He served under W'oi.kk in Canada in 
1759. and, after the peace of 17*v-), had a connnand in 
IMiiladclphia. He joined the Continental army in danuary. 



held command of Tici.indcirog'a, which post he abandoued, in 
3 



3fi WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

July, 1777, on the approach of Burgoyne. He was with 
Gates at Saratoga, and with (treene in Georgia. He came 
to the north after the close of the southern campaign, in 
1782, and, it is said, was with (xates at New AVindsor 
during the winter of 1782-'83. After the close oi' the war 
he was sent against the western Indians, and was disas- 
trously defeated by them. 

In regard to the Head-cpuirters of the Medical Stafl', Dr. 
Thacher writes, under date of April 30, 1781: "1 accompa- 
nied Dr. John Hart to New Windsor, to pay our respects to 
Dr. John Cochran, who is lately promoted to the ofl&ce of 
director-general of the hospitals of the United States, as 
successor to Dr. Shippen, resigned." On the 15th of Decem- 
ber, 1782, after the army retui'ned here, he writes: "Dined 
with my friends Drs. Townsend, P^ustis and Adams, at the 
hospital, in company with G(uierals Gates and Howe, and 
their aids. Dr. Co(;hran, our Surgeon-general, and several 
other officers. Our entertaimnent was amph; and elegant." 
Dr. Thacher was, at that time, surgeon to a Rhode Island 
regiment. Dr. Cochran was a native of Pennsylvania. He 
was appointed Surgeon-gen(u-al of the middle department, in 
1777, and promoted to the office of Director-general of the 
hospitals of the United States, in 1781. He is spoken of as 
having been "eminently distinguished as a practitioner in 
medicine and surgery." 

Presuming that those who feel an interest in the premises 
will visit them at their leisure, — which they can do at any 
time by way of the Newburgh Branch Railroad to Vail's Gate, 
or by conveyance through Quassaick avenue, passing some 
of the finest places of New Windsor, — we tie our horses in 
the lane leading to the residence of Mr. William L. McGill, 
and pass over to the Camp Ground. And here we remark, 
that no record has been preserved of the quarters of several 
of the prominent officers of the army, while in this vicinity; 
but it is probable that they were in temporary buildings 
with their respective commands. 



WA SUING TON'S IIEA D- Q UAR TERS. 



87 



l^e Samp ^rounb anb ^emple. 



TEW VVINDSO]-? ;!ii(l the adjacent cuiuitvy were aliiiost 
i- 1 constantly in iK-citiiatiiui li_\' militia and troops ot the 
line, I'nMii the ontlircak of tlir war until its clust'. It is 
jierliaps iiii|)o.ssililc lo ascertain, at this late day, what troops 
were here at dil'l'crciil limes, or their precise location. Ihir- 
iii,U' the c< instruct ion oC the loi'ts in the lli,i;'hla, iids, and of the 
obstructions to the uavis^-atioii of the river, armed men were 
at all times in camp ; (xovernor Gkorce Clinton had his 
quarters and place of rendezvous here, dating' his dispatches 
"At the II(>ig-hts of New Windsor "; in the winter of 1719- 
'SO, nine hri^'ades were en<-am])e<l here and in the vicinity, 
and six luiiivides at I'ishkill, while (ieneral Putnam's coni- 
n.iand lay in Snutli's (Mov<', in the present town of Monroe. 
When W.vshinctdn's occu[»ied the Ellis(m house, a coiiside- 
I'ahle portion of the army was here, from which he made u)i 
(Fehruary, ITHl), in part, a command for Lafaykttk, con- 
sisting- of tw(dve hundred men, for the Viri^inia campaign. 
Haroii Stkcren writes, in April, 1782, that he had completed a 
review of the troo])s at N(Mv Windsor, adding': "The a]ipear- 
ance of the New York line (Iocs them the greatest honor." 

Tliere wei'e other encampments in the \icinity, nearly all 
the troo])S of the line being gathered here in the fall and 
winter of 17S2. Local tradition aftirms that at least a part 
of the Virg-inia reg-iments had their camp about one mile 
north of the village of Walden. where w<'re also the baggage 
wagons, artillery, and horses, the location being moi'e con- 
venient for procuring subsistence; that the Pennsylvania 
troops were in camp in the ncn-tli part of Newbnrgh, with 



38 WASHINGTON'S IlEAD-QUARTEBS. 

their rig'lit on Powelton brook ; that the g'eneral line of en- 
caiiipnient stretclied along' the base of Muhkatoes hill to 
New Windsor, and that tlie Liie Guard lay on the we.st side 
of Liberty street, opposite the Head-quarters house. Indeed, 
the latter may be regarded as the centre of an encampment 
whiclj embraced a circuit of twenty miles, for a considerable 
body of troops were at Fishkill, and the forts in the Hig'h- 
lands were strongdy g-arrisoned. Of the southern States 
Virg'inia and Maryland alone were represented, but the 
northern were all iiere except New Jersey, wliose authori- 
ties demanded that its troops should l)e encamiKMl on tlieir 
own territory. 

But of all the sevci'ai <'ncampnients, this alone retains 
the impress of occti))ation. Th(> ))low has not up-turn(>d 
the hearth-stones of its sheltering huts; its parade g"round 
is still outlined l»y rude flagg-ing' ; the causeway across the 
swamj) by wliicli i1 was ap)»roached from the east, is marked 
by a distinct verdure ; its grave-yard is still mounded with 
hillocks — monuments of a nation's neglect. Let us hope 
that \\w hitt<'r will ii(»t always be said, but that a proud 
shaft will yet be reared 'above them, dedicated "T(t the Un- 
known, BUT Immortat-." 

■•Twine. Gratitude, a wreath lor them 
More deathless than the diadem. 

Who. to life's noblest end. 
Gave up life's richest powers, 

And bade the legacj' descend 
Down, down to ns and ours." 

In regard to the occu]iatioii of thes(^ gr<uinds, Doctor 
Thacher writes, under dale of October HOth, 1782: "At 
reveille, on the 26th inst., the left wing- of army under 
the command of General Heath, decamped from Verplanck's 
Point and marched to the Highlands ; took up our lodg-iug- 
in the woods, without covering, and were exposed to a 
heavy rain during- the night and day. Thence we crossed 
the Hudson to West Point, and inarched over the moun- 
tain called Butter Hill ; passed the night in the open field. 



n^ASHING TON'S HEAD- Q UABTERS. 



39 



and the next day reached the g-ronnd where we are to 
erect h)g- huts for our winter quarters, near New Windsor;" 
and Chaplain Gang writes : "On my return to the army we 
encamped at Newburg-h, and erected sonn^ huts, and a pkice 
for worship on Lord's day.'' Precisely what commands com- 
posed "the left wing'" of the army under General Heath, 
can doubtless be ascertained from official records, but the 
inquiry is not pertinent to our purpose. Mr. Lossing- says, — 
not without authority, it is presumed,— that the encampment 
was composed of New York, New England, Maryland and 
Virginia troops. 

The accompanying' view is IVom a painting' by the late C. 
VV. Tice, and is exi>lained by Mr. Lossing as follows : "This 




view is from hiud lodking cast-soutlicast. On the slojjes 
siM'U in the foreground, and on the margin of the meadow 
liryond. Van ('oi'tland's New '^'ork rc^giment. and the Mary- 
hmd troops were ('ncaMi|ted. On the cast siih' ol" thi' meadow, 
Upon the most (h'stant ehnation in the nii(hne ground, tin- 
New P^nglaiid troops were station('(b On tiic slope towards 
the rig'ht of that elevation stood the Temi)le. Tiie site oi" 
the causeway is marked by a lig'ht line across tlie tlat." The 
g'rave-yard was on the elevation nearest the river almost 
directly east of the Tein])le, 



40 



WASHINGTON'S HEA D-QUARTEBS. 



The encampment was marked out by (General Heath. The 
hnis (iccnpied by the soldiers were bnilt in line <>n the slope 
111' the hills, with regular streets. They were 14xl(> feet, 
with roois and doors of split-oak sla))S. They were six 
feet hifi,'h, made tig'ht with clay and wood risino- a iuot or 
two al)0ve the roof. The rodf sloped one way and was steep 
enong'h to shed rain. One door and one window opened on 
tlH> street opposite the fire-place. The subordinate ofti(;ers 
had huts with two windows in the rear of the rank, and 
those of a higher grade occupied barracks near the Tem])le, 
where the bakery and hospital were also situated. 

Tin; Tkmple, to which frequent reference has been made, 
was erected by General Heath's order, for general purposes, 
although Mr. Gang says it was specially designed as a ])lace 
" ibr piililic worship on Lord's day." It was officially known 
as The l^ublic Building, but was sometimes called The New 
Ibiilding, to distinguish it from some previous structure. It 

was made of hewn logs, and 
was eighty feci long Ity forty 
wide, with liarrack rool'. The 
engraving is fiom a descrip- 
tion by Major Biknet, an ofli- 
ccr of the ai'iiiy and, for many 
years alter the wai\ a resident 
of New Windsor. The tradi- 
tion that it was dedicated by a caronsal of so gross a nature 
that the titli' l>y which it was to be known, The 'feniple of 
Virtue, was changed to The Temple, may well lie (|nest ion<'(l, 
although it is an admitted fact that the morals of the army 
were not at all times above reproach. Halls were iVeipieiitly 
held in it, at one of which Washix(;to\ ojiencMl the (lance with 
Miss Bemcxap, of Newburgh (afteiwards the wife of Mr. 
John Warren, of Saratoga), who was justly celebiated ibr 
her beauty and her intellectual accomplishments. .Ml public 
meetings of the officers were held in it, and it was also used 
bv the Masonic fraternity, of which order "American Union 




WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTEIIS. 41 

Lodg'e" accompanied the army iiiidcr a traveling dispensation. 
It was in this lodg-e tliat Lafayette was made a Mason. 

When the cessation of" liostilities was annonnced (Ajiril, 
1783), a ceU'bration was held here of which Thacher writes: 
"The proclamation was pul)lished at the door of the public 
building, followed by three huzzas ; after which a prayt'r 
was ofliered to the Almighty Ruler of the world, by the 
Rev. Mr. Gang, and an anthem was performed by voices 
and instruments." General Heath says, that after the prayer 
"an anthem (Independence, from Billings,*) was performed 
by vocal and instrumental music." It was a noble hymn of 
triumph, and was rendered i)y men who realized the import 
ol' its language: 

"The States, O Lord, with sougs of praise 
Shall in Thy strength rejoice. 
And, blest with Thy .salvation, raise 
To Heaven their cheerful voice. 
To the King they shall sing: Hallelujah. 
****** 
And all the Continent shall sing: 
Down with this earthly king — 

No KING BUT <ioD!" 

In the Temple was also held the meeting called by Wash- 
ington to consider the Newburgh Letters, of which we have 
already spoken. Lossiiig, relerring to that assemblage, 
remarks: "This spot is consecrated by one of the loftiest 
exhibitions of true patriotism witli which our revolutionary 
history abounds. Here, love of country and devotion to 
e.xalted principles, achieved a wcuiderful triumph (jver the 
seductive power of self and individual interest — goaded 
into re))ellion against higher motives, by the lash of appa- 
rent injustice and personal suftering." It is indeed a hal- 
lowed spot. Other tields are celebrated by the triumph of 
our arms over a determined foe, amid the clash of weapons 
and "garments rolled in blood," but this stands pre-eminent 
above them all, for here our officers and soldiers coiujuered 
themselves, which is better than the taking- of cities. 

* The Anthem may be found in the "Singing Master's Assistant," by William 
Billings: 1778. We are indebted to Dr. Lowell Mason for its words. 



42 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUABTEBS. 



{omtyi of t^c ^tnnnnati. 



I^HE Tkmple is iiiriii()i-al)le, \n addition t«» tlir lacts alicadv 
^ stated, because it was tlie place wliere the I'loposals 
tor the tbrinatioii of The Soeipyn' ok the (■incinxati were 
tilst made, on the 10th of May, 1783, soon after the cessation 
of hostilities liad been prochiinied. The Pro])osals were read 
in the presence of the officers, assembled for that purpose, 
and were amended and approved. Stei'ben was president ol 
tlie ineeiin^'. A committee, of which Knox was chairman, 
was appointed to revise and copy the same, to be laid bel'oic 
the next meeting', which was to be held at Steiben's (pnirters, 
the N'erplanck house at Fishkill, on Tuesday IIm' l^tli. The 
l^roposals w<'re signed by the presi<lent and cJused : 'Doih' 
at the Cantonment on Hudson rixci-, in the year lTs:>." 'flic 
first regnlar meeting of the Society was held at the same 
place (111 the H>th of .luiie following, when Stf.i hkn was 
clidscn president. The Proposals conteniplate<l the forma- 
tion of a general society which was to have branches in the 
several States, the latter lieing divided into districts. The 
general society was soon organized and WASHi^s^iToN elected 
its lirst president. Its annual meetings art^ still held. It 
was named after the illustrious Konutn, liicus QnxTiNcs 
(lixciNX.\Trs. Its members were to wear a gold medal, by 
which they were to be known. 

The avowed object of the organization was to pei]>etuate 
among the olHcers ol" the army, the memory of the relations 
ol' respcH't and friendshi]) which had grown u]i among them 
during the trying and momentous scenes through which they 
had [)assed, ''to endure as long as they shall eiiilnre or din/ 
of their o/di'st male ponfen'ti/ an<l at the failure thereof, the 



WA SFIIN(^ TO N ' S HKA D- qllAB TEHK. 



43 



(•Mllat('r;il braiiclics wlm they may jiulyc \V(iitli\' of hccDiniiij^' 
its siiinmrtcrs and iiicinlicrs." By tlic lU'claration nl' ludc- 
pt'inlciicc all men were declared t'ijual, and a!(li(inu-li at the 
time (if its adu|)ti(in, the establisliineiit uj' a demnci'at ic Inrm 
111' uiixcrnment was not contemj^lated, the war deNcloped 
demneratic sent iments so sti'iuij^'ly that anythiiiL;" re.n-ardeil 
as CMiiteiTiti!^; hereditary pDwer came to he lo(ike(| u])oii hy the 
eouiiti'y as a <-rime. The |irinei|tle of here(|itai'y sneressiuu, 
wliich had lieen eiii^ratfed ijito the Society, was vig'oroiisly 
assailed in evecy (|nartei'. In I'raiice, Mikahkai; sexcifdy 
criticised the org-aiiization, in a |iamplilet eiit itle(l " Thoiii'lits 
on the Order of Cincinnatns." WASHixcroN hecame al.niued 
at the consecjuences that niig'ht result, ami widte to .Ikkikk- 
siiN upon the suliject. askinj;' his advice as to the hest meas- 
ures to l)e adopted to arrest the proi;'i'ess of the ,t;' ro w i 1 : j;' 
<'Xcilement. .1 kkkkkson, in his aiiswei-. stated fully the oh- 
jecti<ins that were made lo thi' Society, and said that the 
teeliiiii' of Congress was unaidinously in fa\or ol' its discon- 
tinuance. Suhse(pienlly. in wi'iliiiLi; to I'nn.ir M .\/,/.ki. he calls 
its memliers apostates ■■men who ai^e Sams.ms in I he held 
and .'"^oliinions in the council, Iml who ha\c had theii' heads 
shoi'u liy the woman, Knuland." 

How much of the animus tt{ the Sociely spi'anu- from Ihose 
who, in the Nlcoi.A correspdudeiice. propused |o estaidish a 
mimai'chy, it is impossilde to deteindne. W .vsniMM'ex was 
not prest^it at ;iny of the meetin|L:'s ol the Society, and 
doulite(l the proiiriety of its or^'ainzation. althoULi'h he was 
indul<4-ent to the motives oj' its fouiuh'rs. lie altendeil the 
lirst u'eneral meetinu' in I'hiladidphia, in May, IT.'^4. ■'to use 
his iiitluence foi" ils entii'e sup]U'ession," and said to .Ikkkki!- 
snN. whom he stopped to .see. at .\iniapolis, that not a lilu'e 
of it (Uiuhl to he left to he an eye-sore to the |udilic, a 
"ji'roiind of dissatisfaction and a line of s<'])aration hetween 
them and the country." lie lunl nearly persuaiU'd his ollicers 
to abandon it, ■when, as the meetint;^ was diawin.u^ to a (dose, 
Major l/K\K,\.\r I'etui'ueil from l''i-ance with the hadii'es nf the 



44 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUABTERS. 

Society, for which he had been sent, and witli applications 
from the French officers, who had served in our army, to 
become members. This changed the feeling- entirely ; it 
awakened all the old sentiments of friendship which existed 
between them and their allies, of which the Society was a 
tang-ible representative. Washington succeeded, however, 
in having' an amendment passed doing" away with the heredi- 
tary ((ualitication, and thus allayed the rising' storm against 
the (ifticers oi' tlie army; but a majority of the State Societies 
did not approve the change, and the organization remained 
as it was originally formed. Washington lield th(^ i)residency 
until his death, but did not, we believe, attend the meetings 
of the Society. 

Au account of the controversy is recorded by Mr. Sparks, 
and may be found in the correspondence of Jefferson, and 
in a letter from him to Mr. Van Buren in 1824. It is a sin- 
gular fact that the first public act of the officers of tiie army 
should have alarmed the country for the safety of republican 
institutions; and it is also singular that it should leave its 
impress, for many subsequent years, upon the politics of the 
nation. As we look back upon the founding of this Society, 
it a])pears to have been, from the very opposition which it 
aroused, that, of all things, tht- most necessary to insure the 
establishment of republican government. By its side sprang 
into being, "full armed as from the head of Jove," the Tam- 
many Society, or Columbian Order, whoso members were 
jiledged to r<'sist the adoption of any of the aristocratic 
principles of llie old woild; and before its march, titles and 
hereditary distinctions shriveled uj) like a scroll and i)ass<Ml 
away, let us hope, forever. The latter Society had no party 
alliances, as we understand them now, but made them first, 
in 1S12. We do not propose to discuss its history; we 
refer to it simply to illustrate the associations of the Temple 
with the history and the politics of the countr}'. The Societj^ 
of the Cincinnati still lives, and the successors of its found- 
ers hold annual meetings ; but it is a mere historic relic. 



WA SHING TOX'S HE A D- Q UA 7? TEBS. 



4f) 



|lje |quare— |l^c ipj). 



ALTlTOViiU lint ill tlic (livcct line of nur route, Thk 
SgrAKE, or Washington Square as it is now railed, may 
lie iiroix'rlv iiitrochu'ed at this point. It is alioiit two miles 
iVoin the Camp (Jroiiiid, and takes its iiaiiK- IVoiii the fact that 
it is surrounded liy tour roads. The old ( 'Oiitiiieiital road, 
which we are traversini;-, intersects the ttiniiiike leadin.i;' to 
it, and aflbrds a very pleasant drive. It hecame w(dl known, 
during- the war, from being the iread-(piarters of (iovi'inor 
(iE(ir(;e Clinton and of his hrother, <ieneral James ("i.inton. 
After the cai)ture of the forts in the Highlands, l>y the Eng- 
lish, ill llTl, the men who escajied scattered theinseK cs 
among the mountains and re-usseiidded at what is known as 

the Falls' iiorsK, 
wliicli had lieeii 
appointi'(l as the 
place of iciide/.- 
vous. 'fhe (Jlin- 
ToNs hail a very 
narrow escape, 
'i'lie (; o V e in o r 
w a s especially 
sought after by 
his cousin, Sir Henky Clinton, at that time in command 
of the English forces in \ew York, fieneral .Iames Cmxton 
was se\-erely Wounded in the action, hut nexcrtheless re;ich- 
ed his residence after a tra\(d of sixteen miles. 

The (Jovernor reniaine(l a few days at the Falls' house, 
ctdlei'tiiig the dis)iersed militia, and then marche(| tliroiigh 
the \V a Ilk ill \alley to Kingston, tbr the | mi rpose of protecting 




46 WASHINGTON'S IIEAD-Q.UARTERS. 

that place, but arrived too late to save it from destruction. 
While waiting- for his men, on the 10th of October, at iioou, 
a horseman came near the camp, where, being- clialleng-ed by 
a sentinel, he r(>plied, " I am a iViend, and wish to see General 
Clinton." He was conducted to Clinton's quarters, where he 
saw his mistake, and exclaimed, " 1 aw lost !" at the same 
time putting- something- into his mouth. He had never heard 
of an American g-eneral l)y the name ol" Clinton, and sup- 
posed lie had come u))on the camp of Sir Henry ('LINton, who 
commaudcd the English (expedition. Doctor Higby, who 
lived neiir L)y, was sent for, and administered a poAverful 
emetic to the prisoner, which brought up a silver bullet. He 
seized it and swallowed it again, imd then refused to take 
aiKjther dose, until warned that uidess he did, the bullet 
would be obtained by the surgeon's knife. Tiie bullet ugaiu 
appeai-ed. Lossing, who saw it, savs : "It was a curio-usly 
wrmight hi)ll(iw s|)here fastened together in the centre by a 
e(im|)(innd screw." In it was found a note b'dui Sir lliiNm 
CLi.NTex t(i HiK(i(iVNK, advisiiig him ol' the capliue of Ihe 
Highland forts, and that nuthing iii1<'i\-eiie(l tu prexcnl his 
i-eliet', excejd (t.ates' army. 

A court-martial was assembled, on the 14th, — Celmiel 
Li'.wis DiBoisE, president, — at which the prisiuier, whose 
name was Daniel 'I'avlok, confessed tl:at, while he was not 
a s))y, he was a messenger to l^rRcjovxK ; that he had lieen 
deceived liy the ap]»earaiice of some of our men in l^ritish 
uniform, and had made himself known to them. The court 
found him guilty, and senteiu'cd him -'to lie hanged at such 
time and place" as ('lintox should dire(-t. When the lattei- 
reached Hurley and saw the tianies ascending from Kingston, 
mercy Avas suspended and the execution ordered. The record 
closes: " IS Saturday. Mr. Taylor, a spy taken in Little 
Britain, was hung- here. He proved ricither a political nor 
a g-ospol penitent." 



WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 47 



;^e ^lintans. 



A FEW miles hcyoiid tlic Falls' liousc, we i-carii the birlli- 
. place of (loveruor (teorge and (Teiieral .Iamks Ci.ixtun, 
the |)ioiieer lioiiie of their father. Colonel Chaklks ('i.ixi'nx. a 
ii'ditleiiiaii (if Kii^'iish liiiea,!:;'e. hut born i)i Irclaiid, whither 
liis liTand-father had Med to escape persecution at the hands 
nf ('romwei.i.. The drive abounds with tine inland scenery: 

•■(Ti't'eu wave-like meadows, here, are wpreail: 
There, woodland shades are sweetly shed; 
hi deeiieniiig gold, there glows the wheat, 
And there the rye-fleld's varying sheet; 
Kich honied odors here are borne 

From buckwheat bloom by breezes kiss'd. 
There, furrow'd i-anks of tassell'd corn 

Fade greenly on the summer mist." 

The nri^'inal hiuiiest<'ad iiduse is standing', althono'li sume 
additiiiiis, niaih' to it at a sul)se(pient period, haxc heeii ce- 
uioved ; and in the family hnryiiif.)" ji'ronnd, on the hill near 
hy. ne,n"!ecte(l and overu'rown by W(M'ds, are the reiiiaihs and 
the mominients of the father, and of his son, (Jen<'i-al -Iamks, 
and of other members of the fann'ly. 

('harlp:s ('i,i\t()\ came here in 1T81, built this house, and 
g-ave to his settlement the name of Little Hritain. Tie Avas 
well educated and became a leading* man in the province. 
FTe was a}»pointed .Tnd,ge of the ('ounty Conit of bister 
connty, which ofKce he tilled with ;ibility, and became the 
most reliaT)le surveyor in the country. He served in the 
French and Indian war of ]7o*)-'(')o; aidecl in the erection 
of chui'ches and schools, in opening roads, clearin,;.;- lands, 
and in advancing the cause of civilization : and aiiove all, 
gave to his sons, not (udy an education fitting them foi- any 
post of duty, but one on which was indelibly imi)ressed a, 



48 M^ASHINGTON'S HEAD-qUARTERlS. 

lofty patriotism, a hatred of tyranny and a devotion to the 
cause of civil and reli^'ions liberty. Lone and forgotten 
tliougli lie slec})s, liis lil'e-work was well done. His name is 
end)almcd in the meiiHiry of his illnstrions descendants. 

(tko]!(;k Cmxtox was educated for the legal profession. He 
was prnniinent in the discussions wliich culmin;i1e(l in llie 
war of the revolution — no man more so; was a rcpicseiita- 
live in the I'rdvincial (/ong'ress ol' New York, in 177;'), and 
was tile lirst (iovernor of the slate, after the dechuiition of 
independence, an office which he held for eighteen years. 
He was elected Vice President of the I'nited States, with 
Jefferson as President, in 1805, and again, with Maihsox, in 
1S09, and died, while occupj^ing that position, in isl-i. His 
hruther, James ('i.iNTO.v, always shrank from political prefer- 
ment, but was (]nit(! equal to (»eokge in intellect, energy and 
devotion to his country. At the age of twenty he served as 
Ensign, under his father, in tlie French and Indian war, and 
fought by his side in the taking of Fort Froiiteiiac, now 
Kingston, in Canada. In 17(i3, he had command of the 
forces raised to resist the invasion of tiie counties of Orange 
antl I'lster liy the Indians, and when the war of the revolu- 
tion broke out, he received one of the Hrst military ajtpoint- 
nicnts from Congress, and soon rose; to the rank of Major- 
general. During the war he was in charge of the northern 
department with his Head-quarters at Albany, and h>d an 
expedition against the Trocpiois Indians, in which he distin- 
guished himself, as an engineer, by cutting a road from the 
Mohawk to Ijake Otsego, and in damming up the outlet of 
the lake, so as to tloat boats over the bars of the upper 
Sus(piehanna. He took part in the sieg(! of Yorktown, and 
after the war, I'etired to his farni in Little Britain, where he 
resumed his occupation as a surveyor. At the urgent solici- 
tation of his friends he becanu' a numd)er of Assend)ly, and 
of the convention which ratitied the t'onstilution ot the 
United States. He was also a member of the convention of 
1804, called to amend the constitution of the State. Li all 



WA SHING TON'S HE. [D-Q UA R TERS. 



4 9 



these jKisitiuiis he showed iiiavked ability. On the r2th of 
Deeeiiilier, iShi, at the ai;'e oi" seventy-five years, lie died 
where he was iiuni, lieloved liy all who knew him, — a. lirav<', 
accomplished and unand)iti(ius patriot and soldier. 

The third ,i>'enerati()n of the family has its representative 
in DKwrrr C'i.intdx, a son of (ieneral Jamks, who was, acci- 
dentally, horn in the town of Di'crpark, March 2d, IK)!*. He 
entered pnl)lic life as the private secretary of his nncde; 
l)ecame, at an early age, nieniber of Assend)ly and then a 
Senator; member of the Conncil of A|)iiointment ; mayor of 
the city of New York for several years ; )neml>ei- of the 
tUuial Board ; (rijvernor oi' the State for two terms ; a 
candidate for President a<;ainst Madison, and invited l>y 
Adams to b(^ Minister to En,^'land. The statnte book is libed 
with acts of a |nd»lic natnre, originated by him, and while 
in the (Jonrt of Errors, he gave the leading o})inions and 
established legal lU'inciples which have remained nnchanged. 
He was the father of internal improvements in this State, 
and, taken all in all, was one of the most eminent and nsefnl 
citizens this connti'y has ev<'r produced. 

The Clintons, as a family, hav<' Iteeii unsurpassed in mw 
history. The Ahams' only, can boast of such a long line of 
U'l'eat and useful men. 



4% ^.^ ■rfW , 



50 



WASHING TON\S HEAD- Q UAB TEES. 



Mannc's Seatt-quarters. 



TT /"K iiiiiv ictiiiii iVniii oiir visit tn liic Clintmi iHnncstojiil 
VV liy the way (if Coldeiihain. and view tlic Ikhiic of 
('AnwALi.ADF.i! ("oi.hkn. lie was a native <it' Scdtlaiid : settled 
ill \e\v V(()k ill ITiS, and reni()\-ed liis laiiiily 1<> tin's place 
in 1 T2S. The orij^'inal dwelliuLi' wliicli lie erected was taken 
dnwii in 1X45. Tlie mic which he snl>sc(|nently Imilt. ami 
ami which he iiccii|iie(l until IT'iO. wIhmi he reni(iv(^d tn New 
Yurk, is still standin;^' and is kn^wn as the ('olden mansion. 
He was a ))liysician hy cilucation; was a|)|Kiinted Siii'vevor 
<>eiieral, and snlise(|neiitly a niemher of the Kinu's Council, 
lor the l'ro\inc<'. In ITlU. he was aiipoiiited Ijieuteiiaiit 
<io\erno|-, and. at inter\als. IVom that time until ITTl. was 
acting- (iovernor. He was servin;.;' in the laltcr capacity 
when the Stamp Act was passed (11(i5), and took the oath 
to e.veciite il. 'This hronu'lit him into such odium with the 
jieople ol' New ^'ork that "his elTi<i-y was cai'iietl tliron,u,'li 
the slreets and hiinu'. his carriaii-e hnrnt, and nothing- l>nt his 
ad\-aiiced aii'c and known prohily of character as a private 
citizen, saveil him IVom personal \ioleiice." He (lied in ITTti. 
His son. .Vi.KXANhKi;. no| oidy look an a<-ti\(' part in the early 
settlemeiil ol' New l'nr,!L!,-|i. hut i^'ave to the place the name il 
now hears. 

W'e pass |o the north. throUi;h the upper streets of the 
cily, and reach the residence of the late .\\n);i'.\\ .1. Hownin(;, 
to whose taste and <-ounsel we ow(> so much ol the !mprov<>- 
meiit in architect lire and thi' adtunment of pmate resah'nces 
dining- the ]»ast (piarter of a century, and, s1o|)pinLr at the 
u-ateway on inroad street, stand upon the site of the |)uildin,ti- 
which was occupied byGejieial VVAVXEashis Hcad-cptartoiK. 



WASHING TON'S HEAD- Q UAR TERS. 



51 




It was a log" house with a IVamc addition, erected by Martin 

Weyoant, a Palatine settler, 
l)y whom it was occupied as 
a public house. It was the 
tirst tavern in Newburgh. 
At the time \¥avne was its 
tenant, it was occupied by 
Mrs. Wool, whose son, the 
late (xcneral John E. Wool, 
was born in it. A singular 
conibinatiiiu of historic names are represented in the asso- 
ciations of tlie place, and the beautiful gateway which now 
nnirks the site of the house, might with propriety be changed 
to a connuemorative arch in honor of Wayne, and Wool, and 
Dowxixo. The troops under Wayne's connnand had their 
camp a short distance further north. 

General Wayxe was a Pennsylvanian l»y liirth, and one of 
the most distinguished ofticers in the servit'e. He Avas with 
Washington, as a Brigadier-general, at Brandywine, German- 
town, and Monmouth, and with Greene and Lafayette in the 
South. He was devotedly attached to Washington, and 
when asked by him if he would undertake the storming 
of Stony Point, replied: "Yes. General, I will storm hell, if 
you say so'' — a rejoinder which may not have been in terms 
polite, but which mn^ertheless illustrates the cliaracter of 
the man. It was that successful diisli at the enemy that 
g'ave him the name of Mad Anthony, and won for him his 
g'reatest reputatioiL He was a, stranger to fear, and always 
cool, calculating and determined in 1)attle. He died in 1796, 
Avliih^ in connnand of North-west Territf)i\v, and, at his own 
re(piest, was buried under the flag-stafl" of the fort on the 
shore of Lake Erie. 



ci^V^\ 



27^ 



j^^If' 






52 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS 



[}^t itiit &nnttf. 



HAVING visited the first division of our historic circle, 
we close its review at the Encampment of Washington's 
Life Guard, at the point from whence we took our departure, 
the Head-quarters. The traces of the camp have long since 
disappeared; dwellings and factories cover the site whereon 
its tents were pitched; the last of its occupants sleeps be- 
neath the rounds which here lie paced. 

There is no part of our revolutionary history in regard 
to which there is less certainty than that wliich relates to 
the Life Guard. Mr. Lossing gives the following as the re- 
sult of his investigations: The Commander-in-chief's Guard, 
commonly called The Life Guard, was a distinct corps of 
mounted men, attached to the person of the Connnander-in- 
chief. It was organized in 1716, soon after the siege of 
Boston, while the American army was encamped in the 
vicinity of New York. It consisted of a Major's command — 
one hundred and eighty men. Caleb Gibbs, of Rhode Island, 
was its first chief, and bore the title of Captain Commandant. 
His lieutenants were Henry P. Livingston, of New York, 
William Colfax, of New .lers<?y, and Benjamin Goymes. of 
Virginia. (Jibbs held tin' ("oiiimand until 1779, when he was 
succeeded by Lieutenant Cnifax, who remained in command 
of the coriis until it was disbanded in 1783, The corps 
varied in number at different periods. When Washington 
was at Morristown (1779-80), it was increased to two luin- 
dred and fifty. In the spring it was reduced to the original 
number; and in 1783, it consisted of only sixty-four non- 
commissioned officers and privates. It was composed of 
picked men, five feet in stature, commanding in person, and 



WASHINOTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 53 

noted for military skill. In addition to these qualifications, 
"they were to be sober, young-, active, and well made, of 
good character and proud of appearing clean." Their uni- 
form consisted of blue coats with white facings, white 
waistcoats and breeches, black half-gaiters and C(jcked hats 
with blue and white feathers. They carried a banner upon 
which was painted a device of one of the Guard holding a 
liorse, and in the act of receiving a flag from the Genius of 
Liberty, standing by the side of the Union shield and the 
American eagle. On the baimer, upon a ribbon, was the 
motto, Conquer or Die. 

There can be no doubt in regard to the general facts stated, 
although we may object to some of the details. It is vei-y 
positively asserted that the (luard was not " a corps of 
mounted men," but organized as infantry, in proof of which 
the testimony of Burnet, K napp, and others, is cited, and also 
the return of its officers and members, in which drummers 
and fifers are entered, who could not have been particu- 
larly useful to "mounted men" — in fact are unknown to 
such organizations. Then, in regard to the date of the 
organization, we are told that, in 1717, Colonel Spotswood 
selected, from each regiment, four men, who could be relied 
upon, "to take charge of the baggage, papers, and other 
matters of great public imptu't." And this is followed by 
the very clear statement of Baron .Steuben, that the Guard 
was organized by him, at Valley Forg(\ in 11*18. He says, 
speaking of his first efforts to drill our troops: "I commenc- 
ed operations by drafting one hundred and twenty men from 
the line, which I formed into a Guard for the Commander-in- 
chief. I made this (4uard my military school. I drilled 
them myself, twice a day; and, to remove that English preju- 
dice, namely: that to drill a recn-uit was a sergeant's duty 
and beneath the station of an officer, I often took the musket 
myself to show the manual exercise which I wished to intro- 
duce. All my inspectors were |)resent at each drill. W(> 
marched together, wheeled, &c,, and in a fortnight my com- 



54 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

pany knew perfectly how to bear arms, had a military air, 
knew how to march, to form in cohimns, deploy, and execute 
some little manoeuvres with excellent precision." 

The conclusion would seem to be, that if the Giiard was 
organized in 1776, it was re-organized by Steuben, at which 
time Colfax took the command. While at Newburgh, it had 
daily parades in tlie yard on the west side of the house, at 
which Washixgton was often present. It was the last body 
of troops that left the service, having volunteered to accom- 
pany Washington's baggage and papers to Mount Vernon, 
while he proceeded thither by other routes of travel. It is a 
remarkable fact tliat the last line officer of the revolutionary 
war, who was also the last of the original members oi' the 
Society of the Cincinnati, Robert Burnet, and the last of the 
Life Guard, Uzal Knapp, live^ and died in Little Britain. 
Mr. Knapp was born in Connecticut in 1759. He was in the 
battle at White Plains, in the skirmish at Kidgefield, and a 
member of Lafayette's corps of light infantry in the battle 
at Monmouth, Jime, 1778. Many of the muskets with which 
this corps was equipped were purchased by Lafayette with 
his own money, and are now among the relics in the Head- 
quarters' house. Soon after the battle of Monmouth, Knapp 
was chosen a member of the Guard, and served during its 
temporary enlargement, when he returned to the line. He 
died in 1856, aged ninety-seven, and was buried with military 
honors, near the flag-staff at Head-quarters. The monument, 
which marks his resting place, was erected by one of the 
military companies of the city. 

There were other members of the Guard who became 
residents in this vicinity after the war, among others Mr. 
John Phiijjps, wlio appears as sergeant in the nsturn of 
1783, and who served from the time of the organization by 
Steuben. He was the father of Robert Phillips. Robert 
(iiBsoN was also a member, and is said to have been the last 
of the original Guard. He died in Cornwall sometime about 
the year 1852. 



WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 55 



[is^ill buring t^e ^cbolution. 



rr^HE second division iA' our tour enit)races tJie iuiciciit 
1 town of Fislikill, wliicli, during- tlic revolution, was in 
(tccupation by State and Continental troops. The village of 
P'ishkill was then the larg-est and most important place in 
Duchess county. Being- favorably situated for connnunica- 
tion witli the eastern States, and guarded on the south Ijy 
tlic Higldands, it was selected by the Provincial Convention, 
— as the legislature of the State was called, — then in session 
at White Plains (Aug. 28, 1770), as the ])lace to which should 
l)e removed the treasury and archives of the State, and as 
the place for holding the sul)sequent sessions of that body. 
Almost immediately following (Oct. 14), it was resolved to 
quai'ter troojJS here, establish hospitals, depots for provis- 
ions, etc., and convert the place into an armed encamimient. 
From that time until the war ck>sed, some portion of the 
army was constantly here, its invalid camp was never with- 
out occupants, nor its prisons without captives from the 
enemy. Chastellux gives this general description of the 
place in 1780: "This town, in which there are not over fifty 
houses in the space of two miles, has been long the principal 
depot of the American army. It is there they have placed 
their magazines, their hospitals, their workshops, ete., but 
all these form a town by themselves, composed of handsome 
large barracks, built of wood, at the foot of the mountains; 
for the Americans, like the Romans in many respects, have 
hardly any other winter quarters than wooden towns or 
barricaded camps, which may be compared to the hiemalia 
of the Romans." 

The barracks and workshops of the army were situated 



56 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

about half a mile south of the village, and extended along 
the line of the road to the foot of the mountains. Nothing- 
remains, we believe, to show their actual location; nin* any 
indications of the structures, described by the writer just 
quoted, composing the invalid camp, of which he says: 
"The houses were made of logs and were erected by the 
soldiers. Ti) this place the troops, however healthy and fit 
for service, were sent when they became destitute of cloth- 
ing*. They remained at the barracks as long as they had 
rags which could be patched into a covering, but when they 
Itecame naked they were sent into this hiding place." This 
was during the period of the greatest destitution in the army, 
the winter of 1719-80, when Valley Forge was the abiding 
place of famine, and the frozen ground was tracked with the 
blood of frozen feet. Can we wonder that these men some- 
times rebelled ? Their patriotism was put to a severe test, 
indeed. Hundreds died here from the effects of exposure, 
and their bones yet moulder in the grounds which were set 
apart for their interment, at the foot of the mountains. 

The Convention and the Committee of Safety, while here, 
held their sessions in the Reformed Dutch church, which was 
subsequently used for various purposes and not unfrequently 
as a prist)n. The Episcopal church was for a time the hospi- 
tal, and the building which is known as the Wharton house, 
was occuj)ied as tiu; general quarters of the officers. At a 
later period. Baron Steuben and his Aids w(M"e occupants of 
the Verplanck house, and other private residences were taken 
for public use, either wholly or in part. 

Fleeing from New York before the incoming army of Eng- 
land, came hither, in 1176, a considerable number of persons 
known as refugees, — some of them in all the destitution of 
hasty flight, all of them compromised by the part they had 
taken in the rebellion. Among the number were Samuel 
Loudon and John Hailey. Loudon was the whig printer of 
New York, and brought with him his prt;ss and types and 
resumed the publication of his paper, which, until that time, 



WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 57 

had been called The New York Packet, but which title he 
then chaiig-ed to The Fishkill Packet. This paper was the 
official organ of the whigs — their only paper — a dingy pro- 
duction of four pages eig-ht by ten inches. It was by him 
also, and at Fishkill, that the first constitution of the State 
was printed. His paper was continued here until the close 
of the war. In the number for October 14, 1171, he explains 
Mihy Fishkill and Poug'hkeepsie escaped the torch of the in- 
vading expedition under Vaughan and Wallace. General 
Putnam, who was on the east side of the river, prevented, 
by the British Heet, from crossing to the relief of the High- 
land forts, concentrated his forces at Fishkill and moved 
north in company with the niarauding tieet, etiectually cover- 
ing the villages exposed. On the west side, Clinton's forces 
were demoralized, and before they could be rallied, Kingston 
was burned. But, let us return from our digression: John 
Bailey was a cutler. He had supplied arms to the whigs, in 
New York, and at Fishkill again set up his forge. One of 
his swords — that which he made for Washington — is now 
preserved in a glass case, in the National Museum. It 
bears the inscription: J. Bailey, Fishkill. 

The village has its ideal as well as its actual revolution- 
ary associations. It is the scene of many of the thrilling- 
events portrayed in the Spy, one of Cooper's tirst novels, 
and the publication of which was the dawn of American 
literature. Appearing simultaneously with Scott's Anti- 
quary, and Lockhart's Valerius, the Spy eclipsed them both 
by having a larger circulation than they together had, even 
in England, and was honored with translation into the writ- 
ten dialects of Europe, and into some of those of Asia. 
Harvey Birch, the hero of the novel, is represented as com- 
bining in his character, generosity, magnanimity and rare 
patriotism; yet as never being what he appeared. While he 
was full of caution, and fertile in all sorts of stratagem, he 
was above temptation. 

However much of truth there may be in the incidents 



58 WASHINGTON'S HEAD- QUA R TEES. 

related l)y Cooper, his characters were not without being-. 
His Wharton's were no tiction, his Committee of Safety no 
mythical body of men, the Duteli chnreli not less a positive 
existence than the rang-ers, or the Spy a tangible person. In 
a volume entitled The Spy Tannasked, written by Captain 
H. L. Barnum, Enoch Crosby is said to have been the origi- 
nal of Cooper's hero. The incidents in his Hie, as deline- 
ated in his memoirs, — his imprisonment in the Dutch church, 
his mock trial at the Wharton house, his escape from the 
church, his exploits on the neutral ground, his hut on the 
mountain side, from which a signal light could be seen at a 
certain point, known only to those in whose employ he acted, 
and his noble, generous, self-sacrificing character, — perhaps 
establishes the conclusion stated. 

But Barnum's memoir, — although the fact is attested that 
such a man as Enoch Crosby lived and scu'ved in the army 
of the revolution, — is singularly defective in failing" to iden- 
tify other characters in Cooper's story. He had an o))portu- 
nity which will never again occur; but he not only neglected 
to inijMove it. but threw his own ideals upon the scene, to an 
extent that made his book not less a novel than that of 
his great ))redecessoi-. 11' his story came Irom Mr. Crosby 
himself, he must hav(! been told the true name of Cooper's 
Mr. Wiiartoii, and need not have left Captain Townsend and 
his rangers without identification; nay, he might have given 
us the name of the Dutch host of his hero. We may, per- 
haps, be able to thrown light upon some ol' thCse points, in 
the course of our visit; but wliether we do or not, the im- 
press of the ideal will not be the less indelibly fixed upon 
them. We will examine, first, the Wharton house. 




WA SHINO TO-\'S HE A D- Q. UA li TEES. 



59 



\ht 



.^barton teouse. 



COOPER o-ivcs us, uii(l<T the cou-iHiincu oi' Mr. Wharton, 
the name of the occupant and owner, during- the revo- 
liitinn, of Avliat is known as The Wharton House. Wlio the 
actual person was, it is, perlia]is, impossible to tell; hut we 
apprehend that it was the Ivev. (!HAr\(^EV (tRAHam; that the 
liuilding- was occupied liy him, in |»art, with liis family, and 
in i)art by an acach'iny of which he was the principal, and 

that, when it was taken 
lur the pulilic use, he was 
permitted to remain in 
possession of the wing- 
on the lett of the picture. 
At all ev.'iits, tlie state- 
ment whi(-h we luive re- 
cited is of otticial record; 
besides. Cooper's charac- 
ter is more (-"rtainly that <>! a divine than a fanner, and is 
made especially so if we consider the fact established that 
his son was a lieutenant in the English service. However, 
this may be, the house became the Head-cpuirtevs of the army 
otTicers who were at difterent times located here; the place 
where the Cormiiittee, not of "Safety," but for " Enquiring- 
iiito. Detecting and Defeating- all Conspiracies" that might 
lie Ibrmed "against the Liberties of the State," held its 
sessions, and in whose employ the Spy, Crosby, acted. This 
committee was appointed by the Provincial Convention, from 
its own members. John Jay was its chairman ibr some 
time, and Duane, Duer, and Sackett, members, althoug-h it 
was not permanently so composed. The Committee of Safety 




60 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

was an t'litiiely different body, as will be shown hereafter. 

The proceedings of the committee were secret. The sus- 
pected were either summoned or brought belV)re them and 
examined, and discharged or conhned as the evidence might 
justify. Among the papers in Head-quarters at Newburgh, 
are the minutes of the examination of Bevkrly Robinson, on 
the 22d of February, 171*1. Robinson made no attempt to 
conceal his attachment to the king, but asked that h(^ might 
not be compelled to abandon his property and remove to 
New York. He soon after took this step voluntarily. The 
committee was busily employed. Spies were constantly on 
the track of the disaffected, and when any secret assembly 
of tories was discovered, Belknap's (not " Townsend's") 
Rangers were sent to capture them. Captain Isaac Belknap, 
of Newburgh, from whom the Rangers took their name, was 
the commandant in most of these expeditions. Among his 
papers is preserved a roll of the members of the company 
and a diary account of some of its movements. In the 
latter is the following entry: "October 12, 1176 — Received 
orders to march to Fishkill, to be under the direction of the 
Convention, until further orders." We may add, that as 
there was no other company of rangers in the service, it 
must be admitted that, if such an occurrence took place, it 
was "(Japtain Isaac" who was tempted to slumber by the 
smiles and the brandy of Miss Charity. The story loses 
nothing by the identification. 

But the building had other occupants. After the committee 
was disbanded and the army was established here, it was 
the general quarters of the officers. Washington had rooms 
here, when on temporary visits to the camp, and Lafayette 
was for some time a resident. In regard to the lattep, 
Thaciier writes (Nov. 18th, 1778): "Rode to the village of 
Fishkill, and waited on Dr. John Cochran, who is now in 
close attendance on the Marquis de la Fayette, who is dan- 
gerously sick \w\\\\ a fever." But we need not give further 
details. Let us look at the revolutionary churches. 



WASHING TON'S HEAD- Q UAR TEES. 



(U 



j^e Sebolutionarn ©^urcl^csi. 



V 



T 



HE Reformed Ditch chirch eoificf. was erected in 1131. 
At the time of tlie revdlutioii, it was a ^luaiiit stone 
bnil(linj>', quadrang'ular in shape, with a root" rising;" from the 
foni' sides to the eeiitre, snrmounted by a eupohi in which a 
bell was suspended ajid from the top of which a weather- 
cock veered with every wind. The windows were small and 
the g'lass set in iron sash-frames; abitve them were })ort-lioles 
for lig:ht and ventilation, though ])erhaps orig-inally desij>"ned 
for purposes of defense. Soon after the revolution it was 

rebuilt and enlar- 
ged to nearly its 
pre sen t form. 
The interior has 
been remodeled 
twf) tir three 
t i mes . but the 
walls remain the 
same, and the 
general appear- 
ance has not 
been changed. 
The spire and the 
upper tier of win- 
dows are part of 
the modern addi- 
tions. On the 
opposite side of 
the road is tlie Ki'iscotal chirch. It was erected in 1760, 
and in form is about the sauic now as then. These two 




62 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

l)uilding'S liave a prominent place in the annals of the period 
oi' which we write. 

When the Provincial Convention came here tVoni White 
Plains, in August, 1116, the Episcopal church was unoccu- 
j)ied, and hence was selected as the place for holding- its 
sessions; but on assembling there, the audience-room was 
found to be " foid with the dung of doves, and without seats, 
benches or other conveniences," and an adjournment was 
innnediately made to the Dutch church, which henceforth 
became the place of meeting- of tht» Convention and of the 
Committee of Safety, (jne of which bodies was constantly in 
session. It is said, that after the Convention removed to 
Kingston, the building was used as a prison, and that the 
Episctjpal church was, in the meantime, converted into an 
hospital. There is no official record on the subject. 

The first legislature of the State was called the Provin- 
cial Congress, but when the Continental Congress came into 
existence, the latter part of the title was changed to Con- 
venti(jn, in order to avoid confusion. It was composed of 
delegates from the several ccjunties of the Province, and 
ccunmenced its sittings in New York, from whence it remo- 
ved to Harlem, from thence to White Plains, from thence to 
Fisiikill, and from thence to Kingston, from whence it again 
fled, on the approach of the English, and soon after found a 
resting place at Poughkeepsie. Its existence closed with 
the organization of the State government in January, 1118. 

The Committee of Safety was what might now be called 
a "sub-committee of the whole." It was first composed of 
thirteen members, and was clothed with legislative power in 
any emergency that might arise during the recesses of the 
(Convention. At the close of every session of the Conven- 
tion a new committee was appointed, although generally 
composed mainly of the old members. Abraham Yates, the 
president of the Convention, was the chairman of the com- 
mittee, and every member of the Convention who saw fit to 
attend its sessions, had a voice in its deliberations. 



WASHIKGTOX'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 63 

The Convention had other coniniittees, usually for secret 
service, one of which bore the title of "Committee to Detect 
and Defeat Conspiracies against the Liberties of the State," 
of which John Jay was chairman; another was called the 
"Secr^ Committee to Obstruct the Navigation of Hudson's 
river." These committees were in frequent consultation with 
the Convention, or the Committee^of Safety, at Fisjikill. 

The story of Harvey Birch's captivity and escape from the 
Dutch church, constitutes its ideal history. In prosecuting" 
tlie duty with which he was charged, says the story, Birch 
discovered a band of tories, became one of their numlx'r, 
l)etrayed them, and was captured with them and marched to 
Fislikill. Here he was separated from his companions and 
confined in the church, heavily manacled; notwithstanding 
which, he found one of the upper windows unfastened, and, 
in the night, leapinl from thence to the ground, sat down and 
removed his chains, — which of course he might have done 
before he jumped out, — and Hed from the gathering sentinels 
to a friendly swamp, fifty bullets whistling about his path. 
The singular part of the story is, that Cooper launclics liis 
hero out of a port-hole not large enough for the passage of 
a child; while Barnuni makes his hero jump from a window 
which had no existence until long after the last gun of the 
revolution had been fired. It certainly will not do to ana- 
lyze? the story too closely, for if we do we shall be apt to 
find ourselves saying of Harvey, with Miss Ainie C. Lynch: 

"I know not if thon e'er did'st live, 
Save in the vivid thought 
Of him who chronicled thy life, 
With silent sufifering fraught." 

Let US rather cherish it for the interest which it imparts to 
these old walls, linking them to the literatiiro of the world 
in tradition more pure than that which preservers Burns' 
Kirk Alloway from oblivion; mor(! sacred, because of the 
struggle in which it had a part. 



64 



WASHING TON'S HEAD- Q UARTERS. 



Sl^e Seab- quarters of ^aron Steuben. 



THP] V(-rpl;inck house, the Heao-quarters of Baron Steuben 
at Fishkill, is in the Dntcli style of architecture, huilt 
of stone, one and a half stories hig"h, about fifty feet in length, 
with dormer windows. As it stood during- the revolution, 

before the addi- 
tion was erect- 
ed, it had broad, 
sheltering' piaz- 
zas on the east 
and west fronts 
ct)vered by a 
continuation of 
the house roof. 
It is situated 
about one and 
a half m i 1 e s 
n o r t h of the 
Fishkill depot, 

and about lialf a utile from the Hudson, to which the descent 
is by a winding patii, along the bank of a l>abbling brook 
and through a primeval forest. The house is approached by 
an avenue from the uuiin road on the east, and far and wide 
on either side of the broad Holds are groups of tine old trees, 
which give it the appearance of an English park. Near the 
house is a garden of several acres, laid out in the geometric 
style, with box borders. It contains over two hundred dif- 
ferent varieties of roses, single and double hollyhocks of 
every color, tulips, poenies, carnations, and fragrant magno- 
lias, with fruit trees and grape arbors. These are succeeded 




WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 65 

by beds of vegetables, springing- from a deep, rich alluvial 
soil. How impertinent would a lieai't or diamond-shaped bed 
of Coleus appear, set in a closely shaven lawn, in the midst 
of this quaint and beautiful profusion of the olden time. 

The "ante-revolutionary history of the place is interesting. 
The colonial governor, Dongan, gave a license to Francis 
Eumbout and (xulian Verplanck to purchase land from the 
Indians, in pursuance of which, in 1682, they obtained a 
deed, from the sachem of the Wappingers and twenty-two 
principal men of the tribe, U>v seventy-six thousand acres of 
land, on the east side of the Hudson, extending from the 
south side of Matteawan creek to a point five hundred rods 
north of Wappinger's creek, and back into the woods "four 
hours' going,'' or sixteen miles. A patent was soon after 
issued, but Mr. Verplanck having died in the meantime, 
Stephanus Van Cortland was joined in it with Kumbout and 
Jacobus Kipp, as tlic representatives of the children of Mr. 
Verplanck. In the division of the estate, the homestead fell 
to the Verplanck heirs, and has, ever since, been in the family. 
It is about the only estate on the Hudson that remains in 
the name and family of the original grantees. Before the 
days of tariffs and adulterations were known, it is said that 
wheat was shipped from this place to France, and exchanged 
for pure wine, some of which might be found, even now, if 
a Knickerbocker tastin- of the olden time could get safely 
beyond "the Walton" and "Black Seal" stored away in 
the vaults of the old house. 

Baron Steuben, the distinguislied Prussian disciplinarian, 
made the Verplanck house his Head-quarters from the s|)ring 
of 1782, until the army was disl)anded at Newburgh, in the 
fall of the following year, and historians state that the 
Society of the ('incinnati was fornu'd here. Stethex s])rniig 
from a noble family, and appears to have inherited a passion 
for military distinction from his ancestors, many of whom 
had acquired military fam<'. He, with five others, was se- 
lected by Frederick the Great, on account of their natural 



66 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

ability, to receive from him ]:iersonal instruction in the art of 
war. He soon rose t<) tlie rank of Quarter-master, and tlien 
Adjutant-general to the king. He served during the Seven 
Years' War in Germany, and was, near its close, taken pris- 
oner by the Russians. The Grand Duke, afterwards Peter 
III, charmed with his military acquirements, used his utmost 
endeavors to persuade him, on the return of peace, to enter 
the Eussian service. He subsequently became Grand-mar- 
shal of the court of the Prince of Hohenzollern Heckingen, 
and for ten years had supreme direction of his household 
and all court pi'esentations. 

Soon after the commencement of our revolution, through 
the advice and persuasion of St. Germain, the French Minis- 
ter of War, Steuben determined to come to America, to furm 
a regular army from raw troops, and introduce discipline, 
order and ecinioniy in (jur military affairs. Franklin, who 
was then in Paris, gave him letters to Washinoton, Samuel 
Adams, and others. He sailed in September, 1717, and after 
a pcM'ilous voyage of sixty-six days, arrived at Portsmouth, 
N. H. His fame had })receded him, and over five thousand 
pers(jns greeted him on his landing. He immediately wrote 
to Congress: "The honor of serving a nation, engaged in 
the noble enterprise of defending its rights and liberties, 
was the motive that brought me to this continent. I ask 
neither riches nor titles. I am come here from the remotest 
end of (Jermany, at my own ex|)ensc, and have given up an 
honoral)le and liuu'ative rank. I Imve made no conditions 
with your deputies in France, nor shall 1 make any with you. 
My oidy ambition is to serve you as a volunteer, to deserve 
the contidenc(; of your General-in-chief, and to follow him in 
all his operations, as I have done through seven campaigns 
with the King of Prussia." 

Congress received him with every mark of attention, and 
requested him to repair to General Washington, tiien at 
Valley Forge. Washington went several miles to meet him 
on the road, and, on arriving in camp, offered him a guard 



WASHINGTON'S HEAB-QUARTEBS. 67 

ol' liiiiior, (if twciily-livc iiicii. This lie declined, sayiiri;- tliut 
lie wished Id he (-(Hisidered ;i vohiiiteer. At tlie recjiiest nf 
WAsiiixcrov, he ;icce|>t<'il the ofiice of Iiisi)ect<ti'-,L;"eiier;il, 
teiii|)in';irily, ami imiiie(lia|ely ciiniiiieuced drilling- the troops. 
By a \-o(e of Coiigcess, he was ajipointed |K'rniaiiently, with 
the rank and pay of a Ma joi'-,i;-eneral. The iiu[)rov(^]nent of 
till' army in disei]dine was lapitl, so much so as to compare 
favorably with that of the iinest armies of Europe. At the 
l)attle of Monmouth he was on WAsinxiiToN's staif. Hamilton 
was also servini;- in that jiosition, and when Lee's forces were 
thrown into confusion, was sent to rally the men on the left. 
"] had never," he wi'ites. "known or conceived the value of 
/military discipline until that day." 

Many anecdotes are relate(l illustratin,^" Steuben's temper, 
his coolness, his suavity, and his lilierality. To repeat them 
would lill a vidume. Fre([uently did he divide his last dollar 
with his men; and alter the siegv of Yorktown, so keenlv 
did he feel the propriety of returning' the entertainmeids 
which had been given by tlie French officers that he said to 
his Aids: "I can stand this no longer, we are continually 
dining with tiiese }»eople, and cannot g'ive a piece of bread- 
crust in return; sell my silver-w^are; they shall liavc^ one 
gi-and dinner, if I eat my soup with a wooden spoon here- 
after.'' The silver was sold and the dinner was g-iven. He 
won Washington's Avarmest approbation, and commanded 
the admiration and esteem of the entire nation. 

After the war, Congress awarded him half-pay ($2,500 ])er 
annum) for life. The State of New York g-ranted him six- 
teen thousand acres of land on Oneida lake, wdiither he 
went and erected a log- dwelling- and eng-ag-ed in farming-. 
For some years he resided there, and there death came to 
him, in November, 1794. His neighbors, who all loved him, 
wrai)|)ed his military cloak around him and laid him under 
the beech trees of the forest; his wish fulfilled, that he might 
see a Republic established in America, and his name be 
enrolled among- its defenders. 

5 



68 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 



^t geller Soui&e — ^retfs pill 



THE Teller house, as it is now called, was, while tiic 
Provincial government was here, the Head-quarters of 
Abraham Yates, the president of the Convention. It was 
then the residence of Robert Brett, a son of the (U'i^'inal 
proprietor, and, with the Brett mill, is identitied witli the 
military occupation of the place. The history <»f the pro- 
p(U"ty has been partially stated in connection with that of 
the Verplanck huuse. Francis Kunilxnit, (Hie of the ))aten- 
tees with Verplanck, died in llOiS, leavinji,- his sliarc in the 
patent to his only dang'hter, Catharine, then llic wife of 
Roger Brett. This share extended from the Matteawan 
creek, along the Hudson to the Verplanck line, and thence 
back into the country, so as to contain about twenty-five 
hundred acres. Mrs. Brett, with her hnsband, took posses- 
sion of the property soon aiter the death of her father, and 
subsequently became widely known, (ni account of the dig- 
nity of her person, and the great respect in which she was 
held by the early settlers, as Madam Brett. If not the first 
white woman who lived on Newburgh bay, she was certainly 
the first woman of influence and marked character, or holder 
of real estate. She found herself in the wilderness, the 
owner of a vast jiroperty, without money, and in this re- 
spect was like many noblemen of the mother country. She 
was, however, superior to them in being "master of the 
situation." To cut down the forest and cultivate the soil. 
was a slow and difficult process to secure a living. She 
therefore determined, by means of her credit, to call in the 
(dements of nature to her aid. She was fortu)iate in having 
a waterfall on her land, beside which she could place the 



WASHI^'GTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 69 

iiiii.st desirable of all C(iiiveiii<Mie('s in a new ceuutry, a g-rist 
mill. She horrnwed $2,000 oC Oapt. (ilotol) Slielley, of New 
York, All old friend of lier father, to secure Avliieh, she and lier 
husband yave their joint bond. With this money tlioy built 
a stone eottag'e, near wliere the Newlin house now stands; 
induced a nund)er of settlers to acconi))any them, and loaned 
them a portion of tlu? money to aid them in establishing" 
themselves in the wilderness, and with the remainder erected 
this milt — the tirst efiiirt made, in this ])art of the world, to 
obtain aid from the elements in the course of civilization. 
Mill stones had previously been brought from Colcn, in Kng- 
laml, at a cost of !&400 per pair, but in this instance, they 
were |)robal)ly obtained from Ksopus, at one-fourth that 
price, as a (juarry had, liefnre that time, been discovered by 
the Huguenots who resided there. The water was taken by 
a race-way to the wheel, from the head of a foaming' cascade, 
formed as the stream unites, after surrounding" Fairy Isle, 
wliicii is in full view of the house froiu the east, wiiile on 
the otiier sidi', you lool\ past the mill over the lowland and 
through the luonth of the creek, to the l>i-oad Hudson, and 
distant tields and mountains of Orange county. It is one of 
the most beautiful and romantic spots in Fishkill, and (»ne 
which has always been a fa\'orite study for artists. No 
picture drawn by Johnson of Kasselas, in the Happy Valley, 
will compare with the lumie r,f our new Eve, who was a 
helpmeet indeed to her husl»and, as they lived 

•• lu a plain, jileasaut cottage (.-onvenieutly ueat, 
With a mill and meadows — a freehold estate." 

The following spring", the Palatines, forty-one in number, 
settled at Newburgh, then called (iuassaick by the Indians. 
The Lutheran clerg'yman who had them in charg"e, estab- 
lished the first church on the Bay, and there Madam Brett, 
with her husband and her ciiildren, sometimes worshippinl, 
crossing' the river in a canoe. The money borrowed from 
Ca|)t. Shelley, fell due in 171:), and he having" died in the 
meantime, they gave a niortgag'c oii the estate, to his execu- 



10 WASHINGTON'S HEAD- QUARTERS. 

toi\s. Tile nioii.'i'ag'c excepted, ain{)ii<;- oilier lands, 41*0 aercs, 
l)el()ii,t;-iiig- to tloliu Terboss, John liiirti's, (Jasjier I'liiiie. I'eter 
De Boys and Yowreb Spring-stead, slioAvinu: thai there were 
then live additional families in the precinct. Madam HicU 
sold the mill the year after its erection, and then huilt this 
honse, into which she moved. After a short timr, she took 
back the mill and retained it till 1143. For many years, the 
inhabitants of Orang-e and southern T)nchess county, de- 
pended upon this mill for their ilour, and during- the revolu- 
tion it was constantly running- on Hour for the army. 

Madam Br(;tt's mill was tlie central point where the mads 
from the interior converged on their way to the river. They 
ran to this i)lace from Hackinsack, from \Va])i)ing-ei-s, and 
from Wiccopee, and were formed liy g-rading-, wi<leniiig- and 
lu'idgiug- the Indian trails. The Indians, after tlie sale of 
their lands, retired beyond Fishkill plains, wlieri; ^'k^'J '"lilt 
a village of huts made of stakes overlaid with bark, and 
a, castle consisting of a S(jua,re surrounded with palisades. 
At the request of the chiefs, with Avliom she was a gi'eat 
("avorite, Madam Brett often visited them in their village; 
and yet we liiid that she was sometimes Iroubleil l)y them. 
Among- the recor<ls at .\ll>any is a petition lidiii her, (hitcd 
July 1, 1721, [)raying- for protection against certain Indians 
who violently obstructed the siu'veyors in running the lines 
of her lands, and threatened her with bodily harm. Until 
they subsequently removed to the west, in 1756, the Indians 
were in the habit of coming down to the mill with corn, 
beans and pelteries, to exchange for meal. 

Our heroine died in 17G4, greatly beloved by all who knew 
licr, and her numerous descendants now^ hold her nanu' in 
reverence. As the founder of the first settlement in Fishkill, 
her name is identified with its history. She was buried in 
the family burying- lot, near the old Dutch church, and Avhen 
that edifice was rebuilt it was extended over her grave. 
The steeple which now rests upon it is a fitting monument 
to her memory. * 



WASHING TON'S HE A D- Q UARTERS. % \ 



hxnM Ssle — Mitsl)tn(^t0n ©alts. 



FAIliY ISLE, (if wliirli wo liiivo spoken in C(nincctinii 
witli tlie Brett mill, w;is tnniH'd, in primeval times, l>y 
a deposit of" soil IVom tlie induntains. The Matteawan creek 
ling'ers, as if in admiration of its beauty, as it approaches 
its borders, tlien separates and ilows gently around its sides 
nnder the shade of its lofty, overhaiig-ing trees, kissing- its 
mossy banks as it passes; and then, its waters reuniting, as 
if b) atone ibr dalliance, iMish on from rock to rock, willi 
foam and spray, and far-echoing sound, to the Hudson. 

" Thus deeiJ and full, tbo waters glide 
Around their Fairy Island, 
Then gleaming down with snowy foam. 
Enlivening all the Highland: 
They sing a never-ending song 
While flowing to the river. 
Of mirth and music, grace and love, 
To God, their bouuteoiis Giver." 

Here, as the Indian Ixdieved, a Manitton dwelt, and accoid- 
ing to tradition, as we liiid it in the following extract from a 
manuscript poem, written by one of sainted meuiory, they 
often came to admire and worship: 

" The red man knew thee long ago, when all 
These hills and sunny slopes were darl; with trees; 
To liim the music of thy wind-sweiJt grove 
Was the "Great Spirit" whisijering in the breeze: 
Thy murmuring water, as it rose and fell. 
Bore on its waves, Mauittou's powerful spell." 



Here, too, the Indian maiden, Idithe and free, 
.\nd graceful as a young and bending elm, 
Wandered at sunset and paused long to hear. 
With ear attentive, the full gushing song 
Of wild wood robin in the tree-toijs round; 
Or bent delighted, o'er the quiet wave, 



72 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

That miiTor'd laithfuUy her dusky charms, 

And smoothed each wandering tress of raven hair, 

And wreathed it with red berries from the wood." 

In after years an Archery Clul), composed of young' ladies, 
witli appropriate and suggestive costume, practiced here 
witli bow and arrow, at stated periods, during" the summer 
months. With wliat effect, there are some now living- in 
Fishkill can testify, and which may be imagined by carefully 
reading- the closing- lines of the following song, preserved in 
the sylvan annals of the Club, written by one who had expe- 
rience on the subject: 

"Haste! come haste to the Fairy Isle, 

Deep in the Highland shades. 
Where Matteawan's clear waters smile 

Around its verdant glades. 
Where, silvery-like, the gleaming spray 

Kisses the deep green shores. 
Then sings its sad and lingering lay, 

And onward dashing i)onrs. 

Haste! come haste to the Fairy Isle, 

The wild vines clamber high. 
Over the tall old trees that pile 

Their foliage to the sky. 
And. soft and sweet, the asphodel 

Comes l)reathiug in the gale, 
Like balmy odors famed to dwell 

In Cashmere's fragrant vale. 

Haste ! then haste to the Fairy Isle, 

The golden sun sinks low, 
And cool and deep the shadows, while 

We draw the springing bow. 
Then woe to him whose eyes shall sec 

Us poise our swift-wnged dart — 
For quick as lightning's flash shall flee 

That missile to his heart!" 

At the mouth of the Matteawaii creek, reaching into the 
river, is PRF.'^QtF, Isi.K, almost an island, as its name indicates. 
It has long lieen coiisidcrcil, on accoiiiit of the fci'tility of its 
soil, the beauty of its location, and thr splendid old ti-ees 
that surround it, as the gem of the Hudson. The Indian, 
triiil IVom the Housaloiiic to the Hudson, by way of W'iialey's 
])oiid and tlic Matteawan stream, terminated licrr. The 



WASHrNGTON'S HEAD-QUAETEES. 13 

.early settlers of the country followed the same line of travel 
from th^ east<n-ii to the niidtUe States, and when the revolu- 
tion broke out, it was adopted for the transportation vl 
troops and munitions of war. 

While at Newhur<j,-h and Xew Windsor, Washington was 
a fre([uent visitoi' at Fishkill. On the east side oi' the rivt'r 
he landed and eud)arked from the southwest part of l'res(iue 
Isle. If his horse was not there, he remained under the 
shadows of the oaks until it was lirou^ht down, and on his 
return he si^-nalled across the river for his barg-e, and ther<' 
Avaited for its comino-. To this fact these venerable trees 
are indel»ted lor the name they now beat' — The Washington 
Oaks. One of them is twenty-three feet in eircunderence, 
standing- in the shelving bank, which, with its huge roots, it 
pidtccts liom tlie dashing; tide. Its trunk is deeply fui- 
rowed, covered with moss and licliens, each limb like an im- 
mense tree, and its top "bald with dry antiquity." The 
other is near, on the bank, with a trunk full of vigor and 
life, about eighteen feet in (circumference, and stands like a 
column, with great liiidis and wide-spreading" lu'anches, bid- 
ding" detiance to time. A low years since, an oak oi' tli<' 
same species, Ihirtocn fret in eircunderence, was uprootecl 
on the island liy a violent gale, and Mr. William H. llenning 
had it sawn into logs, and, with a nncroscope, count<'d 
seven hundred and sixty-iive rings, making its ag'c that 
nund)er of years. \Ve may, tiierefore, conclude that the 
largest of the Washington Oaks is aliout twelve hundred, 
and the oth(M" a thousand years old. The Directors of the 
Boston, Hartford and Eri<' railroad, who have taken this point 
as their ternunal depot on the Hudson, with a laudable re- 
gard for ]iubiic sentiment have ordered that these trees be 
not only preserveil, 'out ])rot<'ete(l from injury. 

" What tales, if there were toiiKuis in trees, 
The.se Rraiul old oaks could tell." 

They would tell of the thoughts of Washington, as he lay 
under their bidad-s]preadiiig sh;ide; how he wondi'ied whethf'r 



74 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

the aconi of liberty he was planting in a soil rich with the 
blood of patriots, would live and grow into a great republic, 
and endure the storms of passion and competition for a thou- 
sand years, or whether it would go down as other republics 
had done before, and whether these oaks, that witnessed its 
early history, would witness its decay and overtlu'ow. They 
would tell of the Indian, who for centuries came and went, 
the same in his appearance and as unchanged in his charac- 
ter as the surrounding hills or the tlowiug sti'cain. But liiey 
could not tell us ol' the times of Charlemagne and of the 
dark ages that followed, alth(jugh born in his reign, and are 
as old as the one that bears his nam(> in the garden of Fon- 
tainebl(!au, as the broad ocean had not at that time become 
a wiiispering gallery. Had these trees grown in the cele- 
brated oak grove of Dodona, the priestesses who there deliv- 
ered oracles to their Grecian followers, would have stood 
and worshipped under their overhanging boughs. Had they 
stood tui the campagna of Rome, in its palmy days, their 
leaves would have formed the civic crown given b) her C(de- 
brated men — as coming from 

" Jovo's own tree 
That holds the wooJs iu awful sovereignty." 

We wonld not worship lliem with (xreek or Ivomaii blind- 
ness, nor as the ancient Dniid ])riests wonld have done; but 
we would have them ever stand to awaken a lofliei- palriot- 
ism in th(ins:inds uf Americans who will yet daily |kiss liy 
them, as they go from east to west and IVom west to east; 
we would have them ever remind the beholder of the love, 
devotiiin and ijatriotisni of the father of our couiilry. 



ixt^'- 




~"ii 

■U 




WASHINGTON OAKS. 



V'i 



WASIITNGTON'S IIEAD-QUARrEliS. 75 



J FAD we ;u raiiii'cd our sketches in the oi'ilcr ol' liistoric 
- JL (•(tiiiicrtioii, llic Hudson river and the lli^lilaiids would 
liave constituted tlie iirst, I'atlier than the third, division of 
our theme, lor to tlieir stra,<;"<'tic importance we owe tlie 
g'athering liere of the armies oi' th(^ revohitiiui, and nearly 
all that links the localities we have visited with the sti'ui;'<;'le 
for national independence. 

The story of the Hudson, tliou,i2,'h old, is always interest- 
iii.U'. Sitting' on the old i)iazza at Head-(juarters, or on one 
of the many attached to the i)rivate residences wliich are 
hei'e thrown into the landscape like s|)ots of sunlig'ht, and 
taking' into our view the lu'oad hay, the l"ertile iicdds, the 
•"•rowini!,' villai;'es, the lofty inouniains, we realize the I'orcc 
of the comparison made by Curtis, of the Hudson with tlie 
Rhine: "The Hudson is laru'er and i;-rander. H is not to he 
devoure(l in detail. No re^■ioll without association, is, exce|)t 
hy science, l^iit its spacious and stat(dy charactei', its varie(| 
and ma^'nihcent outline, from the Palisades to the (-atskills, 
are as epical as the lov(diiiess ol" tiie Rhine is lyrical. The 
Hudson ini|)lies a continent behind. For vineyards it has 
forests. For a belt of water, a majestic stream. For^'race- 
fnl and i!,'i'ain-jj,'oldeneil heii;dits, it has imposing- mountains. 
There is no littleness about the Hudson, but there is in the 
Rhine. Here everything' is boldly touched. ^Vhat lucid and 
penetrant liu'hts I What Itroad and soiier shadows ! The 
river moistens the feel, and the cdouds anoint the heads, of 
reual hills, '{"he Danube has. in parts, i;-|impses of such 
U'randeur. The l']lbe has sometimes such delicately-penciled 
effects. Rut no Furopean river is so lordly in its bearin^-s. 



7 6 WA SHING TON ' S HE A D- QUAE TEES. 

none flows in such state to the sp;i. 01' all our rivcu's tliat 1 
know, the Hmlson, with this g-randcur, iias the most exquisite 
episodes. Its morning*- and eveniut;- reaches are like the 
lakes of dreams;" and tind ourselves saying with Willis, 
who, looking out from his rest at Idlevvild, wrote: "These 
mountains, associated as the}' are with tlie history of our 
country in its struggles for freedom ; rising within the 
range of civilization, and fVn'niing a part of our daily enjoy- 
nient, have a decided influence upon the character of those 
Avho live near them. Such persons hecome more identified 
with their home surroundings, and even amid the mountain- 
ous regions of foreign climes, however celebrati'd hir th«Mr 
sublimity and beauty, are not aflected as powerfully as l)y 
their own native hills. They ever repeat — 

' My heart's in the Highlands. 
My heart is not here!' 

It was On the Heights that Auerbacli took his lieroine, 
the fair Irma, not only to restore, but to transform her into 
an angel of truth, light and beauty. Of all Ruskin's works, 
none an^ more elevating, nor have any added more to his 
world-wide renown, than the volume of Mountain Beauty. 
The gifted Margaret Fuller, whose memory is so reven^d by 
her many friends, writes from Fishkill, where she ]iassed the 
fall of 1S44: 'In the country behind us, are mouiitain-jtaths 
and lonely glens, with gurgling streams and many-voiced 
waterfalls. And over all are spread the gorgeous hues of 
autumn. From the brain of the |)urph' mountain, flows forth 
I'heer to iriy somewhat weary mind. I feel retVeshed amid 
these bolder shapes of nature. More gentle and winning 
landscapes are not enough. How I Avish my birth had liecn 
cast among the sources of the stream where the voic<' of 
hidden torrents is heaid by night, and the eagle soars, and 
thunders resound in jirolonged peals, and wide blue sliadows 
fall like brooding wings across the valley! Amid such 
scenes 1 expand and feel at home. * * * The boldness, 
sweetn(>ss and variety hei-e are just what I like. I could 



WASHTNOTON'8 HKAD-QITARTERS. 77 

pass tlie anturnn in wateliing the ox(}uisite oliaii^-c of light 
and shad*' on tli<» licights.' This majestic, this cahn splt'n- 
dor, conld not Imt cxliilerate the mind and make it noMy 
tree and jdastie. The crystal springs that burst from these 
mountain sides; their peaks, which catch the morning- sun 
and hold its departing rays; the sacred memories which 
cluster around them — are to the noble, the g-enerous, and 
the g'ood who live under their intluence, types and blessing's, 
for in the w«»rds of inspiration, 'The mountains shall bring- 
peace to my people, and the little hills righteousness.' 

' Oh, ye evex'lasttiug hills — 

Builcliug« of Ciod, not made with hands, 
Whose word performs whate'er he wills; 
Whose word, tho' ye should perish, stands.' " 

The river takes its name from Henry Hudson, its discov- 
erer in 1(509. He was in search of a north-west passage to 
the Indies, — for long' years a dream of the Old World, — and 

while sailing under 
the auspices of the 
Dutch West India 
Coni|iany, entered 
what is iKiw the 
harbor ol' New York, 
and from thence ex- 
\ plored the river as 
5^ iar north as Albany, 
receiving, as he ]tass- 
ed its headlands, the 
homage of the In- 
dians, and impressed 
with visions of ])rim- 
eval beauty and g'randeur such as lie had never before con- 
ceived. The forests were clothed in their richest autumnal 
verdure, the mountain i>eaks g-listened with what to him ap- 
peared like mineral wealth, the land was "as beautiful as 
one can tread upon." Need we W(jnder that he wnjte, "the 




78 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

Grieat Rivor of tlie Mountains"? From the loth to tlie 29th 
of September, witli his crew of twenty men, and liis vessel 
(the Half Moon) of twenty tons burthen, he was engaged in 
his explorations, made friendly alliances with some of the 
Indians, killed otliers, then returned t(j England, and from 
thence again sailed to discover the supposed Oc(^an pathway. 
It was his last voyage. Wlule locked up in the ice in Hud- 
son's bay, destitute of bread, there was a mutiny among his 
men. The mutineers seized him and his son and seven oth- 
ers, and forcing them into an open shallop, without food, left 
them to perish. The waves that beat on the shore of the 
bay of which he was the first explorer, and the ebb and flow 
of "the river of the mountains," of Avhich he was the first 
discoverer, will forever proclaim his name, tell of his bold 
adventures, and sing a requiem to his memory. 

Tiie simple narrative of Hudson's discovery, is atoned for 
l)y Washington Irving, who, in his Knickerbocker History 
of New York, states, on the testimony of Peter Vanderdonk, 
and the experience of Rip Van Winkle, that Hudson, M'ilh 
his crew, visits the Catskills once every twenty years, and 
that at such times the smoke and sparks emitted from their 
pipes appear like clouds illumined by Hashes of ligiitning, 
lloatiiig along the sides of the mountains, while the rolling 
(»f their nine-pins sound like the reverberations of thundi-r. 
As furtlier evidence upon this intensely intiu'esting subject, 
Professor Ingraham relates, that in the month of August, 
1S2S), he encountered on a projei'ting rock from the side of 
Bull hill, in the Highlands, a remarkable figure in Dutch cos- 
tume, and whom he describes witli great particularity in his 
Legend of the Hudson Highlands. Tlie strange p<Msonage 
claimeil to be llendrick Hudson, and uttered among other 
things, th(! following words, which were taken dowji at the 
time: " Dunder and blicksens! \'en I vaked desc eciioesh 
(h' first time, two liumlret and venty year ago, iiiit (!<• kiins 
ov Halle Mdone, more nor ten Inusant eaglish vas scared 
vroiii der klilfs. Here ish only one left now. Dis gab vas 



WASBINGTON'S HEAD-QUAErEBS. 79 

not licrc (Icii neidrr. l);it L^Tcat roi'k dare." ixiintiiiL!,' to Kcl- 
|iic l.'dck ill Kelpie Cuve. " vas dare on dis klit'f vaic we 
stand." He related various other jiai'tieulars eonneeted with 
llie lornier condition of llie ni<)Uidains and of the d<'e|i j>ools 
iinlx'ddcd ihereiii, and of the lost spirits imprisoned there; 
how tliev were watela-d over, and of their chaniicil condi- 
tion, which until then had oidy lieen L!,"nesseil at. hul never 
known l>y mortals. Ky the tim(! his story was told he was 
env(do])e(l in the sinoke i>\' his pip<' (of the day« <d' I'eler the 
Headstrong') from the lop of his hi,u-h-perehed hat to the hol- 
lom of his Flemish hoots; and when the smoke was cai'ried 
oil" liy a ,^'us1 of wind which ajtpeared 1o come from the rock, 
the spirit had tied. 'I'he story of the u,'liost secures additi(m- 
al ctudirmatioii from the fact that the tinn' and place of Hiul- 
soii's hirth is wrapj)ed in mystery, wdiile the time and place 
ni' his hoi'rihle death is undiscovered and unknown. The 
Ijco'cnd of the Hudson Hi,<;ddands, as related lirsl liy Hen- 
dri(d\ Hudson, is recorded l)y Professor In^'raham, and re- 
ferred to hy Diederick Knickerbocker in his History of New 
York, and by the p(iet Drake in The Culprit Fay. .As the 
st(U'v .ti'oes, there was a deep lake comi)let(dy shut in hy tlu' 
Hi^-hlands below Stofni King and Bull hill, which were th( n 
joined together and C(mstituted one range. This \vas the 
)»ris(Ui house of evil deniuns, wlio wore to reniain here till 
this new world became tlu; iidicritance of the children of 
the old; but they having rebelled at this decree, were shut 
up in the Palisades and in the south side of Storm King. 
They have no power of utterance, except as they repeat 
sounds heard on earth. Thus through the wall of their 
prison house you can hear the reverberation of thunder and 
the echo of human voices. These demons were thrust into 
their dungeon through a crevice into wdiicli M^as poured 
an igiKJous rock, melted in the lower regions and supposed 
to be imi)ervious. In 18G7 some daring experimenters form- 
ed a plan to take out this rock, remelt it and prepare it to 
hold spirits of another but not less destructive nature. It 



80 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

was foniid, however, to be too strongly impregnated witli 
sulphur from below for mainifacturing purposes, and too 
suggestive to be agreeable. When tluMleinons were impris- 
oned the titans, gnomes, ktilpies, giants, orgies and (jther 
superhuman beings were permitted to remain among the 
rocks about West Point and old Cro'nest. They were male- 
volent in their nature and hated mankind, ever seeking their 
destruction. Tiiey had a tradition which ran thus: 

"Orgies, giants, kelpies, gnomes! 
Fly, fly your ancient homes ! 
When au elf shall thrice defend 
A maid 'gainst whom ye all contend — 
Then, then, your power shall end." 

On the mountain opposite where these evil genii dwelt, 
the (jueen of fairies held her elfin court, always ready to 
protect mortals. She liad a favorite page called Eriiti, who, 
while on an errand for his queen, saw a white sail enter tlie 
Highlands below Peekskill. Curiosity led the y(^)ung page 
to drop unseen upon its canvas, when a beautiful woinan, 
Hudson's daughter, appeared on the deck. Charmed by her 
beauty he overstaid his time, and while returning was de- 
layed still further by hearing an ujiroar in the clii^' of a rock, 
the council-chamber of the evil genii. He passed noiselessly 
into a nook in the cave, and there heard them plot the de- 
structitui of the vessel which they had seen ap)H-oacliing. 
They determined to lift her out of the water and dash her 
against the rocks, or raise a storm in which slie might l)e 
wrecked, or else crush her by hurling down up-rooted trees 
and immense rocks. A gnome, of enormous size, who lived 
in a cave beneath Kosciusko's garden, was to commence the 
work of destruction as the Half Moon came into view the 
next morning rounding the headland f)f West Point. The 
council having broken up, Erlin escaped to his home, invent- 
ing a lie to excuse his delay. With the morning light he 
was off on his daily errands. Being a good spirit he had 
the power of counteracting the schemes of the enemies of 
mankind, and in this case he determined to do so at all 



WASHIXGTOyS HEAB-qUARTERS. 81 

> 

liazards t'oi tlio love lie liorc to the b(>autit'iil iiiaideii. He 

tlicrctnrc iktcIkmI liiinsclt', with his white wind's transjtarrnt 
as lii^'lit, (111 Ihc sails nl' \\\v vessel, sd that the li'iioiiies and 
(ttlier evil l)einiis eniild imt lilt her mit dl' the water. Thus 
l)at1le(l, thev eniijufrd up a slnnii ; l>ut ii»itwitlistaiiiliii,u' the 
violent wind and dashinL;' waves she sailed on as usual. 
Tiien tlu'V )iulled u|i enoiinous trees and roi'ks and liurled 
them down iVoin the mountain; but Phdin Hew IVom one tu 
the other, and they lell at onee short of their mark. Then 
came the i'ulHllment ol' tlie tradition, for "amid loud liellow- 
in;j,-s and wailin^'s" the monsters were liurled baek l)y an 
invisible power, into the dark chambers of Storm Kiiii;', 
where they remain to this day. The storms which t;"atlK'r 
and break upon its summit and often dash down its rildied 
sides to the valley below; the ;j,ust of winds that often 
strike the thoii,i;-htless mariner as he passes its base, as also 
the startlin:.;' echo which breaks from the perpendicular wall 
on its south face, may be attributed lo the almost smothered 
power of the cag'cd monsters. Erlin had violated his vows 
by tallinj;' in lo\e with a mortal. 

•• He had dared to love an earthly maid, 
And left her tor his woodlaud shade." 

The g'enii ])roclaimed it as they were departing;' from earth, 

and ho was arraig'iied in the Ellin Court. 

" Fairy, Fairy ! list and mark ! 

Then hast broke thine elfin charm ; 
Thy flame wood lamp is quenched and dark. 

And thy wings are dyed with a deadly stain: 
Thou hast sullied thine elfin purity 

In the glance of a mortal maiden's eye." 

After a fair trial, he was condemned to vast labors and the 
|)erforTnance of various tasks and penances, bef(U(- he could 
be restcncd, an aecount of which is g-iven liy Drake in his 
inimitable poem, The Culprit Fay. These haAMnji; been done, 
"all the shadowy tribes of air" wfM'e called upon to 

''Hail the wanderer again 



With dame and song and late and lyre; 
Pure his wings and strong liis chain. 
And doubly bright his fairy tire." 



82 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QXTARTERS. 

The fairies still liold court in their aiicieiil dw-clliiif;- phice, 
au<l all lovers, and those who are pure in heari, can heai- (he 
llutleriii!^- ol" their win.L;'s and see th<' daneini;' of their wiiite 
i'eet on the waters when 

•' The nioou looks down on old Cro'nest, 
And inoUows the shade.", on his shaggy breast." 

From these id<'al ])ictures lei us return to tlie actual. 1'lie 
Hudson takes its rise in the Adirondacks, ahout 1,(1(10 feel 
above Ihe level of the sea. Its connectinii wilh ihe c'lm- 
nierce of the Provinces, at the tiinc^ of the re\'oliitioii. made 
the control of its navio-ation of (he lii^-hest imjinrlance lo 
ihe En_!;"lish, as well as lo llu' .Americans, ll was literally 
" the key to ihe coutiiienl ." and called lUil for it;s eoiKpii'st 
the Hnest arndes of Em;-land. The lli.uhlaiids, which funii 
so conspicuous a fealuic in its topo_u"ra]diy and so deeply iu- 
tcrestint;' a cha|)ter in the history of the stru^'^'li- for inde- 
pendt^iK'c, area part of the Appalachian or .Vlle^hanian chain 
e.xlendinjji; from Maine to (ircort;Ma. They are called the Blue 
Rid}i"(! when they pass lhi'ou,<i"li Pennsylvania and Viru'inia 
A spur |»uls olf from them in l^ennsylvania, and fnriiis Ihe 
SIiawan,i;Mink and Calskill ran,i;-e; then dro])pin.!j,- into the 
Helderberg- hills, I'ises ao'ain lo its f(n-mer heio-ht in the 
wide-s|)readin,<x Adirondacks. The main ridu'c passes lhron,i;-li 
NcAV Jersey, crosses llu; Hudson oblirpiely, and forms the 
Hit^'hlands and Fishkill mountains; then drops into the 
Berkshire hills and rises ag'ain into the (ireeii mountains ol" 
Vermont. The crystal spring's that burst from Iheir sides 
form streams and rivers in their longitudinal valleys which 
escape through gorges to the sea. Their climbing |)eaks 
and beautiful valk^ys, found as they are in the southern, 
middle, northern and eastern States, with every modifica- 
tion of temperature, with every variety of soil, and with 
every form of beauty in the shrubs, trees and flowers Avhich 
spring from their sides, have awakened universal adm 
tion ; but the Highlands and the valley of the Hudson 
admitted to be the crowning glory of them all. Irvii 



VVASHiyGTUN',^ lIEAB-QUAliTEE,^. 83 

\ 
speaking- ul' tlic Hig'lihiiul.s, in his Knickerbuckci', says : 
" Here it wuuld seem that the g-igantic Titans liad erst waged 
their iiii[»i(ius war with heaven, piling ii[» elili's on elil'l's and 
hurling' vast masses ut' ruek in wikl cind'usion.'' Campbell, 
in his Gertrude of Wyoming-, speaks ot" numerous sparkling' 
hikes in the Alleg'hanies, but Lyell, who exaniincil th;it part 
ot" the range, says that " sueh eharaeteristics ot" the seenery 
are as pure inventions ot" the poet's imag-inaiion as the lia- 
nungoes, palms and aloes with whieh he adurnod the banks 
111" the Sus(|uehann;i.'' In the llig-hland lakes between West 
I'oint and the Clovi', the poet's vision, when he saw "lake 
upon lake intermimibly gleam," is almost realized, as also 
in the eultivated gardens and green-houses on the banks 
ol" the Hudson, where tiaming'oes, palms and aloes are l"ound 
in rare i)ert"eetion. 

These mountains were ealled Ivittateny by the Algoni^uin 
Indians, a name sig'nit"ying- endless hills or a suceession of 
hills ; but that part of the rang'e which crosses the Hudson 
has been known by its present name since its discovery. 
The most pronnnent of the Hig-hland peaks are .St(jrm King- 
and Cro'nest, the w^estern i)illars, and Break-neck and Bull 
hill, or Mount Taurus, the eastern pillars, of the grand gate- 
way of the Hudson, while the iKnth and south Beaeoiis 
stand lis outp(Jsts to g'uard the ii]»proaches. .Storm King-, — 
orig-imilly called, by the Dutch, Bolal»erg-, and from that trans- 
l"ormed into Butter hill by the mischievous pen of Irving', — 
received its present name i'rom Willis, t"or the reason that 
the g-athering' of a ckmd-ca)) on its sumnnt is a certain indi- 
cation of an approaching storm. Cro'nest, fourteen hundred 
and twenty-eight feet high, was once the balc(jny from whieh 
the crows, like rooks from the castle tower, eame out every 
morning, spreading far and wide over the surrounding coun- 
try, returning at set of sun to chatter about their day's 
exploits. Break-neck, to which the Indian maiden went, day 
cifter day, to watch for the coming of her pale-faced lover, 
who crossed the big water promising to return after four 
6 



84 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 

moons, with waiiiptini and l)eads for his niistrrss; but he was 
faithless, and she, despairing, finally plunged from this rock, 
which will ever stand as a memorial of her and her fate. 
Bull hill, or Mount Taurus, is so called from its resendilance 
to the head and neck of an animal worshipped of old, and 
finally exalted into a constellation in the heavens, which now 
keeps watch over its namesake on earth. The twin Beacons 
take their name from the fact that, during the revolution, 
preconcerted signal lights on their summits conveyed intel- 
ligence of the movements of the enemy. 

In the valley between Storm King and Cro'nest, a stream 
dashes down to the Hudson, forming dark pools among the 
over-hanging rocks and trees, along which, and the mountain 
side, is an easy ascent to the summit. On the north side of 
the mountain is the tory cave of which Barnum tells a story 
in his Spy Unmasked. A crystal lake lies between Bull hill 
and Break-neck, which, with its surrounding beauties, richly 
repays the visitor. On the east side of the Beacons is Wic- 
cope pass, where, during the revolution, military works were 
erected and cannon planted to guard the valley road leading 
from Fishkill. The north Beacon (1471 feet high) may be 
reached by way of Matteawan, and the south Beacon (1685 
feet high) by the way of Tioronda. They both command 
very extensive vicAvs. On a clear day parts of seven States 
may be seen from the south Beacon. 

As early as July, IttS, the British ministry, in arranging 
their jilau for the suppression of the rel)ellion, determined 
"to command the Hudson with a number of small men of 
war and cutters, and maintain a safe intercourse and corres- 
pondence between Quebec, Albany and New York, and thus 
afford the finest opportunity to their soldiery, and iho. (Cana- 
dians in conjunction with the Indians, to make continual 
incursions into Massachusetts, and divide the Provincial 
forces, so as to render it easy for the Britisii army at Boston 
to defeat them and break the spirits of tlie Massachusetts 
people, desolate their country and compel an absolute sub- 



WASHIXG 2VN\S IIEAlJ-Q UARTERS. 



jcc'tion to Great Britain." To couiitciact this plan of opera- 
tions, the Continental Con,i;'ress, in May of the same year, at 
the snj;-<;-estion of the Convention of NeAv York, resolved, 
"that a [xist l)e taken in the Highlaiifls, on each side of 
Hndson's river, and batteries erected, and that experienced 
{)ersons lie inmiediateiy sent to examine said river in order 
to discover where it will lie most advisalile and proper to 
obstrnct the navij^-ation.'' 

Durini;- the sncceeding fall, i"orts Clinton and Mont;i,-onicry 
were built, under the supervision of the Convention of New 
York, and in June following' the same body appointed a 
secret eonnnittee "to devise and carry into execution such 
measures as to them shall app(!ar most etfectual for obstruct- 
ing- the channel or annoying the enemy's ships in their passage 
up the river." This it was finally determined to do by means 
of armed men, forts, fire-ships, booms, chains, and chevaux-de- 
frise. The fire-ships, or rafts, were constructed at a great 
expense.' and bronght into somewhat effective requisition on 
one occasion near fort Washington, but were subsequently 
abandoned as impracticable. 

The first of the obstructions in the Highlands extended 
from tlie foot of the rock on whicli fort Mont- 
gomery was liuilt to the base of St. Anthony's 
r=|iprr|t> Nose. They were Completed in the fall of 1776. 
JhdlHk The chain with the side fastenings was 1800 
feet in length. It was floated upon logs about 
sixteen feet long, framed together with cross ties 
and anchored at short distances from each other. 
1^ To these frames the chain was firmly fastened, 
h> and the shore ends secured to docks with heavy- 
tackle. A considerable portion of the chain 
^I was brought down from Ticonderoga, where it 

had been designcxl to obstruct th(; river Sorrel. The r<,'main- 
der was jnanufactm-ed at Poughkeepsie. It broke twice from 
defective links, and was streiigthened and completed with 
anchors and cables made at New Windsor b}^ Mr. Machix, 



a 



t 



86 



WASHING TON'S HEAD- Q UAR TERS. 



under the supervision u^ Guvernor Clixtox. It whs com- 
posed of links made (jf iron two-and-u-lialf inches s(juare and 
two feet long. In front of the chain and along its whole 
leng'th were anchored at regular intervals booms made of 
logs tirndy bound together to receive the first shock of the 
vessels that might come upon it. At each end of the chain 
were ground batteries for its defense, and above it were two 
armed frigates, two galleys and an armed sloop. After the 
British captured the forts they removed the chain and sent it 
to England, from whence it was sent to Ciibralter and became 
part of the obstructions to the Straits. 

The obstruction which was extended from Pallopel's island 
to Plum point, was suggested by General James Clintox and 
consisted of cribs, or 
SfjiUare frames of tindjcr, 
tilled with stone and sunk 
at intervals across the 
channel, a distance of 
about tifty-three chains. 
From the top of each of these 
cribs and firmly imbedded there- 
in, came up at an angle of about 
forty-five degrees, to witiiin a few 
feet of the surface of the water, 
spears pointe<l with iron design- 
ed to pierce tlie bottnm of any ^^^?^ 
vessel that might come upon 
tlieni. The work was completed in the fall of 1177, at New 
Windsor, under the superintendence of Capt. Thomas Machix, 
the Engineer employed by the Province of New York. Five 
hundred men were detached to assist him, and three hundred 
axes were obtained, some by purchase and some by impress- 
ment, where there was more than one in a family. A part of 
one of the spears of this obstruction was recovered from 
the river, a few years ago, and is now in Hcad-tpuirters. 

A part of the plan of defense was a system of Beacons 




; 



WA SHING TO N'S HE A D- Q UA E TEES. 



87 



and Sig-nals, (established in accordance witli a vesDlntion ol" 
C'ong-ress, to convey intellij^-ence of tlie inovoments cil' llie 
enemy and to call ont the militia. They consisted of lia,t;s 
and alarm cannon hy day, and of heacon-tires and alarm 
cannon by night. The Hags and tires were placed on the 
mountain tops, and the cannon discharged at the fortitied 
))oints. The system extended originally from the Neversink 
hills to the Highlands and from thence to New England, but 
subsequently ran from tlie frontier posts in \\7»stchester 
county and were more local in their purpose. The beacon- 
pyres were pyramidal in form, made of 
logs tilled in with Virnsh and intlamalile 
materals, and carried to a height ol 
thirty feet. The signal beacon for this 
district was on Storm King. When it 
was lighted it was iinmediatcly respon- 
ded to by those on the Fishkill moun- 
tains, and by similar jjyres on the Marl- 
boro' mountains. They were anxiously 
wati'hecl, and as their glare lighted up 
the sky the militia hastene(l to thcii- 
jdaces of rendezvous. That the alarms 
Were frequent is shown by the re])orts 
of th(? officers of the militia, (!ol. TLasbroick repenting twelve 
alarn>s in l(>ss than five months, at which his regiment was 
on duty. It was ind a post of ease that these Highland 
warriors held in their watch and ward of the trust which 
was committeil to their kee]»ing. 

"The Highland passes," says Irving, " were always objects 
of anxious thought to WASHiNcrrox ;" hence we tind him 
writing, in May, 177*1, "the im|>erfect state of the fortiiica- 
tions at fort .\b)ntgom(M-y gives me great uneasiness." They 
were soon after visited by (lenerals Knox and (iKF.F.XE, in 
com|iany with (loveinor (h.iNTox and (xenerals M('Dnr(;Ai, and 
AV.WXF., who recommended the completion of the forts and 
the obstructions, and also the erection of fort ('onstitution 




8S WASHINGTON'S HEAD-qVAHTERS. 

Oil Constitution island and of fort Indepondcnoo at Peokskill. 
Tliosp l)eino' tiiiisliod, rienoval Putnam was placed in command 
with a larii'o )>ait (if the New York and New Eng'land troops, 
not only to guard the Hudson, hut to ha\'e the army in such 
a position l^etween the eastern and middlf States that they 
could be brought into r(^quisition at either ]ioint in case of 
an attack. 

Scarcely liad this disposition of forces been made when 
BrR(;oY\E swept down from ('anada with his splendid army, 
and the campaign for the possession of the Hudson opened. 
To aid in the movement, Howe threatened an attack on 
Philadeljthia, ))y way of Delaware river, and thus forced 
Washinhjtox to draw men from the Highlands until only 
fifteen hundred remained. About the 20th of September, 
while Howe was marching: into Philadelphia, and BrRGOvxE 
had reached Saratoga, over three thousand British soldiers 
arrived in New York, and there joined the armament of Sir 
Henry Clinton, then in waiting, and in a few days started to 
force their way up the Hudson. 

General Putnam, who was stationed at Peekskill, was at 
once advised of the sailing- of the ships of war, and called 
in troops from Fishkill and the surrounding- country. The 
British first landed at Tarrytown, and after marching a few 
miles into the country, returned to their ships and sailed as 
far up as Verplanck's Point, and there landed their men and 
threatened an attack on Peekskill. Genl. Putnam retired to 
the hills and prepared for a vigorous defense. Sir Henry 
Clinton, in accordance with his previous design, immediately 
crossed the river to Stony Point, with the greater part of his 
forces, and made a forced march around the western base of 
the Dunderborg, through a pass which Washington had 
pointed out, but which Greene and Knox thought inacces- 
sible. Here he divided his forces, sending- (me detachment 
to storm fort Montgomery, then under command of Governor 
Clinton, and the other to storm fort Clintttn. then in command 
of General .Tames Clinton. The forts were ])rincipally garri- 



WASHJNdTOX'S HEAD-qUAHTERS. 89 

soiled by militia, alMHit six liinidicd in iiuiiiUor, vvlio liad liccii 
called in by the lieaeoiis and signals, 'riii-y made a short, 
but most heroic defense, and then rcH'eived the order to lind 
safety in Hig'ht. A cunsideraltle number surrendereil as 
prisoners, but the largest portion escaped over the ramparts 
and were lost to the enemy amid the darkness, the trees and 
the rucks, (xovernor (Ilintox leaped down the rocks to the 
river, crossed it in a small boat and went to Putnam's camp, 
(xeneral .Iamks (Jlintox, saved from a deadly thrust oi' the 
bayonet by an orderly bo(jk, with a Hesli wound in his thigh, 
escaped into the woods .after slipping down a steep bank 
over one hundred feet in height. 

As soon as the forts were taken, the armed vessels, sta- 
tioned to protect the chain and boom, endeavored to escape, 
but tinding it impossil>le, on account of adverse winds, were 
set on tire 1)}^ the crews. The Hames soon reached tlu^ loaded 
cannon, which gave out thundering reports, and tinally the 
magazines, and amid " magnificent pyramids of tire," a tre- 
mendous explosion shook the hills and all again was wrapped 
in darkness. In the morning the enemy removed the obstruc- 
tions, and passed on up the river. (Governor Clinton and his 
brother, James, reached the Square in Little Britain rallied 
there their broken troops, and tlien followed the enemy's 
tleet as far as Kingston. Putnam, after leaving part of his 
troops at Peekskill, moved to the mountain passes to protect 
Fishkill, and from thence north covering the east side of the 
river. The tleet experienced little ditficulty in passing- the 
obstructions at Pallopel's island. SiMiding- their boats out 
they soon found the passage which had been left open, and 
moved on, hurling shot and shell to the exposed dwtdlings 
on either shore, sending the inhabitants to their cellars and 
the woods for safety. Keaching Kingston, they burned that 
village, and on the opposite side of the river destroyed the 
Livingston manor-house and the residence of General Mont- 
GOMEKV, hoping to close their desolating expedition by joining 
BuRuovNE at Albany, and thus establish their contemplated 



90 WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUABTEBS. 

lino of communication between New York and Canada, V)y 
way ol' tlie Hudson and the St. Lawrence. 

The cause of the colonists seemed hopelessly lost ; gloom 
hung its heavy clouds over their hopes ; tlie defenses which 
had cost them so much money and sacrifice, had proved of 
no avail. We must recog-nize this great depression ii' we 
Avould realize the joy and thanksgiving which burst forth 
when couriers from the north brought tidings of the capture 
of BuRGOYNE and his army, and saved seemed written on the 
cloud-crests, and on the peaks of the mountains, — yea, on 
ever}' throbbing patriot heart. Soon after, the enemy's fleet 
returned to New York from its maurauding expedition, 
destroying in its way the Highland forts. 

Washington was now more fully aroused than before to 
the importance of thoroughly fortifying the Highlands. On 
the 2d of December, as soon as he heard of the British fleet, 
he wrote a letter to General Gates, another to Governor 
Clinton, and a third to General Putnam, urging the building 
of the necessary wf»rks and obstructions. In liis letter to 
Putnam he says: "The importance of the Hudson river in 
tlie present contest, and the necessit}' oi' del'cMiding it, are 
subjects which have been so frequently and fully discussed, 
and are so well understood, that it is unnecessary to enlarge 
upon them. These facts at once appear, when it is consid- 
ered that it runs through a whole Stfite, that it is the only 
passage by which the enemy from New York or uny part of 
our coast can ever hope to co-ojierate with an army from 
Canada, that the possession of it is indispensably essential 
b) ])reserve the communication between the eastern, middle 
and southern States; further that upon its secjirity, in a great 
measure de])ends our cliiei" supjilies of floui' for the subsis- 
leiice of such forces as we may have (Occasion l"(ir, in the 
course ol" the war, either in the eastern or northern depart- 
ments or in the country lying higli up on the west side of it. 
TIh^sc facts are familiar to all ; they are i'amiliar to you ; I 
therefore re(|uest you, in th(> most urgent terms, to turn your 



WASHINGTON'S HEAD- QUARTERS. 91 

most sfrious and active attention to this iniinitdy iin])iiitant 
oliject. Seize the |)resent opportniiity, and eini)h)y yonr 
whol(^ i'orce an<] all the means in your power for ereetinfi; 
and eoiapleting", as far as it shall be possible, siieli works 
and olistruetions as shall lie necessary to defend the river 
ao-ainst any future attempts of the enemy. You will consult 
Governor Clinton, Gren. Parscms, and the French engineer, 
Col. Hadiere, upon the occasion. By g-ainln<^- the jtassaye 
you know the enemy have already laid waste and destroyed 
all tlie mills, hous«>s and towns accessible to them. Unless 
proper measures be taken to prevent them, they will renew 
their ravag"es in the spring', or as soon as the season will 
admit, and perhaps Albany, the only town in the State of 
any important-e remaining in our hands, may underg"o a like 
fate, and a general havoc and devastation take jdace. To 
prevent these evils, therefore, I shall expect you will exert 
every nerve, and employ your whole force in future, while 
and whenever it is practical>le, in constructing- and forward- 
ing the proper works and means of defense. Tiie troops 
must not be kept out on command and acting in detachments 
to cover the country lielow, which is a consideration infinilely 
less important and interesting." 

(Governor ('[.intox recommendi^l that a strong- fortress 
should be enn-teil at West Point. Cleneral l*rr\.\M was 
jilaced in charge, assisted by Colonel K,\dif.ke. The works 
proceeded so slowly that the people clamored at the delay 
and called for the removal oi' those in charge. (Jeneral Mc- 
DoifiAi, succeeded (xeneral Putnam, and Koschsko, ('olonel 
Hapikre. The works now j)rocceded with vigor. The new 
works of defense and obstruction were similar to those which 
had been destroyed, imt the location was better chosen. The 
chain was extendetl tVom the loot of foi-t (-linton to the land- 
ing- on Constitution island, now the dock, of Mi-. V\'arner. 
.\bout the first of May, lllH, it was carried ov<'r, fninly 
i"ast<'U<'(l iiy staples to logs KWeel in length ]»ointed at the 
ends and placed a short distance from each other. The li)iks 



92 



WA SHTNG TON' S HE A D- QUAR TERH. 




were madf> ;it the Sterling- Iron Works, and taken io the 
forg-e, at New Windsor, of Captain Machix, and tlien joined 
^s sgii^ „ tog-etlier and floated 

down to West Point. 
A portion of the 
chain is i)reserved 
at West Point. The 
boom was made of 
log's fifteen ieet in leng-th, twelve inches in diameter, rounded 
at the ends, and clasped in the centre in the form of an octa- 
gon, and extended across the river in front of the chain to 
receive the tirst shock of an approachiiig vessel. The logs 
were connected bj^ a heavy band of iron around each end 
to which was united two links of chain each about eighteen 
inches in length, made of two ini'h bar iron. 
Two of these logs, with their chains and 
bands, were drawn up from the river bottom 
by Bishop's derrick, in 1855, and are now 
among the relics at Head-quarters, where 
it has served to illustrate the precise char- 
acter of the obstructions and their great 
strength. When these works were completed, the obs1:ruc- 
tions at Pallopel's island were repaired, the shore batteries 
mounted, and the loss which the enemy had inflicted fully 
replaced. 

■ Fort Clinton was erected on a cliflf' one hundred and eighty 
feet above the river on the east side of the present parade 
ground. A part of its walls remain. It was large enough 
to shelter six hundred men, and was only accessible at one 
point from the river, which was securely defended by palis- 
ades. It was the princijtal fort on the Point, and bore the 
baptismal name of fort Arnold. Its out-works were fort 
Putnam, on Mount Independence, and forts Webb and Wyllys 
near by; indeed, on every eminence in the neighborhood were 
batteries forming a chain of redoubts to the river. Fort 
Putnam is the most complete in its ruins, presenting walls 




WASHL\GT().\'S HEAD-qi'ARTEHS. 93 

and cascinatcs in a (•(Hisidcralilc^ state of ))orlt'cti()ii. tliouuli 
Jiot as they existed dnriiiL!,' tlie revnlntidii, the works liaviiijj;' 
been rei»aired and altered durini;- Ww war (4 ISl-J. On the 
u|)i»()site shiire was lurt (Jonstitntion, with its north and 
niiddh' rechmbts, ami the south battery on Suj^'ar L(»at' moun- 
tain. West Point thus became the strongest military post 
in America. Xor was it left again unguarded ; it was well 
garrisoned by veteran troops, and tin' principal part of the 
patriot army was encamjK'd in its vicinity. 

OpjU'essors rely upon their uundters, their weapons, and 
their armaments; mountains, those natural fortresses, have 
ever l)een the defense, the asylum, and the stronghold (»f the 
oppressed. It was so in Scotland, in Switzerland, in (ireece, 
and in America. The British armament in vain attempted to 
ascend the river; in vain the officers attempted to divert 
AVashi\<;to\'s attention from its protection. Could it lie re- 
tained and communication be kept open between the eastern 
and middle States, sooner or later America must triumph. 
The Highlands with their defenses defied the arms and strat- 
egy of Britain, but they came near being lost through the 
influence of her gold and the treason of Arnold. The terrible 
consequences that came near resulting from this treason, 
however, caused the criminal to be considered as the prince 
of traitors, and the providential manner by which his infa- 
mous plan was defeated, has ever shown that the hour of our 
extremity was God's opportunity. 

The story of West Point need not be repeated here, but a 
passing notice of its history may not properly be omitted. 
In ancient Dutch days it was known as The Martelaer's Rack, 
or Martyr's Keach. The Dutch navigators divided the river 
into reaches, to which they gave descriptive names. The^' 
found here a rock}' point nearly at right angles with the cur- 
rent, and, wlien sailing with a fair west wind, found, on 
passing it, th(^ wind "dead ahead," compelling them to beat 
and struggle with it. Hence the name Martelaer, signifying 
contending or struggling. The tradition which converts the 



94 WASHINGTON'S HEAT)- QUA ETEBS. 

iiamo into deeds of violence, on the part of the Indians, is 
entirely worthless. The land was orioinally patented to one 
Congreve, bnt remained nniinproved until taken into pos- 
session by State and (lontinental authority, as has been al- 
ready stated. The United States purchased the property in 
1790, on the reconiraendation of (General Hamh.tox, for the 
purpose of establishing a military post. Four years pre- 
vious thereto (xoneral Knox, while Secretary of War, had 
reported that this point was of decisive importance to the 
defense of the Hudson river for the following reasons: 

" Firat. The distance across the river is only about four- 
teen hundred feet, a less distance by far than at any other 
point. 

" Second. The pecular bend or turn of the river forming 
almost a re-entering angle. 

" Third. The high banks on both sides of the river being 
favorable to the construction of formidable batteries. 

"Fourth. The demonstrated practicability of fixing across 
the river a chain or chains at a spot where vessels in turning 
the Point invariably lose their rajudity, and of course, their 
force, by which a chain at any other jioint of the river would 
be liable to be broken." 

During the English and French war, and during the revo- 
lution, all parties considered tin' ]>assage of the river through 
the Highlands, of whi(-h W^ost Point was the gateway, of 
more stragetit' importance than any other jnirt of America. 
In July, 1779, (General Washington transferred his head- 
quarters to tliis place, and remained here till November 2Sth 
of the same year, giving his personal attention to the com- 
pletion of the military works, at which over twenty-five hun- 
dred men were on fatigue duty daily. 

The works were improved and finished under the immediate 
superintendence of THAimEis Koscirsco, to whose memory 
a monument was erect('(l on the spot to which he often res- 
sorted for contemplation, and whicii has ever since been 
called Kosciusko's Garden. The troops, while p(>rforming 



WASHING Toys HEAD- (^ UAR TERS. 



95 



their laljur on these works, often siiiiered ibr want ot" food. 
A letter from Ivosciisku to Major-L;'eneral Mel)(.)L(;AL, is in ex- 
istenee, in whieh lie says: "The ear]>eiiters eoni[)lain('(l ahout 
the })rovisions that he Iiarr not enof : lir Im'<j ijvtir hoitur /<> 
allow (hem more hrccl.^^ West Point was now eonsidereil the 
Anieriean (iiliralter, and inipregjialde to a foree of twenty 
thonsaiid. For three years the army had labored to eoiin>lete 
the works, at a eost to the g-overnment of $o, 000, 000. 

The Military Academy was established here in ISO'J. For 
a nnmber of years after the revolution the ^v(lrks were suf- 
lered to decay, and a vandal owner u|uin whoso land fort 
J'utJiani was situated, was permitted to dismantle it in a 
great measure. VVlien the war of 1812 came on, tlie works 
were repaired and again [)ut in a complete state of delensr, 
Ibrtunately without any necessity involving their use. They 
were sul)sei[uently dismantled, and now present in tl;eir 
ruins unly the evidence of their written history. 




96 WASHING Toys UEAD-qUARTEliS. 



onstittttron Sslanb. 



ONE can scarcely regard his visit at West Point com- 
plete if in his rambles lie tails to visit the sites of the 
original forts Montgomery and Clinton, lake Sinsapink into 
which the British threw onr dead, and many other points of 
interest to which the local guides will conduct him; and 
especially if he fails to pass over to Constitution Island. It 
lies directly opposite the Point; is about two miles in circum- 
ference, half a mile in width from north to south, and rises by 
boJd and precipitous rocky banks to the heiglit of about one 
hundred and thirty feet. It was known as Martelaer's Rack 
Island, up to the time of the revolution; but after the erection 
of fort Constitution, it was called by the name which it now 
bears. It is now the place of residence of H. W. Warner, 
Esq , and his two accomplished daughters, so well known to 
the literary world. We well remember our tirst visit to this 
charming spot. We had been rowed down from Cornwall 
landing, close under the shadow of the Highlands, while the 
sun still glittered midway on the river. The mountains, 
"with their stern grey heights," towered above us, while 
beneath our bark, deep down at their base, the ocean ebbed 
and flowed. After passing Cold Spring, we shot over to the 
precipitous cliff on the opposite side of the cove and rounded 
the island, soon coming to a little pier with a landing and 
a shelter for boats. A foot-path, amid shrubs and beds of 
flowers set in a closely shaven lawn, led up to a (piaint 
country-place, sheltered with vines, appropriately called 
Wood Crag, where tin; ravelinx of the fort were formerU' 
placed. The kitchen jjart of the building was made from a 
portion of the old barracks. Wc were shown into a cozy 



WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS. 97 

room, faciiif;- the soutli, from which, hxtkiiig past West Point, 
you could follow the thread of the river far down among- the 
hills. The Ixioks, the jiictures (one ot which was a portrait 
of VVashin(;tox, by Stuart), the old-fashioned furniture, the 
portalile writing- desk on a small table, with pen, iidv-stand 
and a half-closed portfolio, containing- unHnisluMl manuscript, 
indicated literary taste, cultivation, and daily use. The 
father and eldest daug-hter soon came in from the g-arden to 
g-r(>et us. The afternoon was charming- and we wore tempted 
to walk out and clamber up the rocks which overhang- the 
ruins of the old fort and command a view of West I'oint. 

In answer to in(pnry, Mr. Warner informed me that the 
Wide, Wide World had been written at the little desk I had 
seen in the library, and that when it was finished he took it 
to several i)ublishers in the city, all of whom declined to 
briu^ it out, as the authoress was unknown as a writer, and 
that the market was flooded with novels. Finally, Mr. Put- 
nam consented to take the manuscript home and submit it to 
his wife. She, soon after, took it u[) and was so charmed 
with its truthful delineations of country life and its hig-h 
moral tone, that she urg'cd her husband to venture on its 
publication. At first it attracted no attention in this coun- 
try, l)Ut in P^ng'land, as an American novel, it met with a 
limited sale. After some months, one newspaper g-aA'c it a 
favorable notice, and then another and another, until the 
press everywliere became loud in its jn'aise. Over three 
hundred thousand copies were soon sold. Twenty-three dif- 
ferent editions were printed in Eng-land alone. This book 
had a g-reater run than an}' American novel ever had, except 
Uncle Tom's Cabin. 

Upon oin- return to the cottag-e we were welcoUK'd by the 
young'cr sister, who I'vidently had busied hersell during' our 
al)sence in the pre)iaiatiou of ;i tempting' repast: delicious 
fruit, delicate biscuit, and refreshing' tea was served in China 
of the (juaint willow pattern. From the cottag-e we passed 
over to the Point. As we ascended the hill to the plain, we 



98 



WASHING TON'S BEAD-QUAIi TEES. 



lieuid tlR' Inmd playing- i'uv cvciiiiiy,- i)cirudc. Cairiagcs rolled 
over the hard g-ravclcd roads, and groups of youili and beauty 
in gay summer eostunies were i'orming under the .shady trees. 
The eadels, in their gray clotiies, white ghjves, and white 
pantaloons, and glittering bay()nets, went through tiieir 
regular exereise. Soon the sunset gun eelioed among the 
mountains, the Ameriean Hag was lowered from the Hag-slali' 
and the living throng passed away. The seenes at the 
eottage on the island, and the story of the \Vide. Wide 
VV^orld, remained in memory, and Ave all spoke of llie won- 
derful })ower of the retiring authoress, who had awakened 
on both eontinents the admiratit)n and res})eet of more than 
a million of readers, and of the quiet but enduring effect of 
such fame and iniluenee compared with the transient nature 
of the fashionable and military display we had witnessed. 

— At this point we i)ause in our historic circle, lor, although 
there are many places of interest below, they do not fall 
within the limits of Newburgh bay and the surroundings (jf 
the Head-quarters of Washington. 




